278 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



board, but they are arrivals from other lands, and 

 often passing south or north, as the case may be, 

 to yet more distant haunts. Among the more 

 prominent of these, we may mention the Gold- 

 crest, which often abounds on the coasts of the 

 German Ocean ; the Skylark and the Starling, that 

 come each year in countless hosts ; the various 

 Finches and Thrushes, that visit us each season 

 to pass the winter in our land. Then, more locally, 

 there is the Snow Bunting and the Shore Lark 

 Arctic birds that visit us more or less commonly. 

 The Common Bunting, too, is a common resident 

 on many parts of the littoral area. Of other species 

 we may mention the Short-eared Owl, the Sparrow- 

 Hawk, the Woodcock migrants from over the sea, 

 tarrying but a short time to rest near the shore, 

 before speeding inland, or yet further south. The 

 Rook obtains much of its food from the sands in 

 littoral districts ; the Starling often congregates in 

 vast flocks on the saltings. I have even seen the 

 Rook take its food from the surface of the sea, 

 precisely in the same manner as a Gull. 



