64 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



Waders if only because it is a certain proof that we are not pursuing the 

 " inevitable " Dunlin. 



So much for the attractions of the white rump. We were destined to 

 see other Green Sandpipers before we left the drain. As we stood gazing 

 at the departed bird, his cries were answered by a like note from behind, 

 and we glanced round in time to discover that a second bird had lain perdu 

 at the preceding bend, and had now risen to rejoin its mate. To make 

 matters worse, a shot, fired hurriedly and without effect, put up a small family 

 party which was breakfasting one hundred yards ahead, and we had the 

 additional satisfaction of seeing the whole flock assemble, and after circling 

 round once or twice, far out of range, make straight off for the harbour, or 

 some still more distant retreat. We now planned a drive on the chance of 

 the drain holding some more birds. Making a detour of more than half 

 a mile, I posted myself beside the entrance of the sluice into the estuary, 

 and waited while my brother proceeded to follow the course of the stream. 

 All went well at first. From my place of concealment I saw him put up two 

 or three Sandpipers, which came shrieking along straight for my ambuscade. 

 But, alas ! Fate was once more against us, and a single bird rising inoppor- 

 tunely from a ditch at right angles to the drain, and catching sight of me 

 as it flew towards the estuary, uttered the now well-known warning cry, and 

 in a moment my approaching victims had grasped the situation and swerved 

 off rapidly to right and left. 



Thus the drive, too, had proved a failure, and nothing remained but 

 to wait for some hours in the harbour until the birds had had time to return. 

 However, the collecting mania is not easily damped. We decided to wait, 

 and, returning late in the afternoon, at length secured a specimen after an 

 arduous stalk. We did this by making short semicircles, and then crawling 

 straight towards the likely spots. To follow the drain was hopeless it 

 swarmed with Common Sandpipers, which invariably gave the alarm, and 

 Green Sandpipers are not the sort to neglect a warning. The reputation 

 they acquired on that day for wariness they have ever since retained, and 

 though I have shot them since in other localities, it will be long ere I forget 

 the excitement of that first and most irritating pursuit. The Common Sand- 

 pipers, on the contrary, flew on before us from corner to corner, sometimes 

 stopping to dance and flirt their tails on one of the cross fences, and allowing 

 a near approach as they found themselves unmolested by the gun. 



The place might well have provided Wood-Sandpipers as well, but we 

 never saw or heard of any being found there. The rough herbage which 

 adorned the banks was frequented by several members of the Warbler genus, 



