THE SPURN 43 



of the ridge prickly saltwort and sea-rocket were in seed, 

 yellow berries richly adorned the sea-buckthorn, and the 

 hedges further inland were bright with hips and haws. 

 Provision for seed-eating birds was ample, and they did 

 not neglect the lavish feast; linnets, redpolls, green- 

 finches, sparrows in dense packs swarmed over the aster, 

 saltwort, and rocket ; blackbirds, thrushes, and the lately 

 arrived redwings on the larger fruits. Multitudes of 

 snails crawl amongst the marram, and the thrushes have 

 no lack of this, their favourite food; but on the ridge 

 itself there are no stones to use as anvils for shell- smashing, 

 but a stiff bent branch of sea- buckthorn is just as good; 

 every few yards a litter of broken shells marks the abattoir 

 and dining-table of some migratory thrush. Grass seed, 

 insects, and molluscs supply all that the lapwings, larks, 

 and pipits need in the fields, whilst the abundant animal 

 life of tidal mud and the refuse from the ports attracts 

 waders and gulls to the Humber. 



Daily the bird population alters in numbers and com- 

 position; birds arrive during the night and next morning 

 skulk in the bushes or join their fellows in the fields. All 

 day long diurnal movements of certain species may be 

 noticed. Out of the void specks appear, high above the 

 sea, and in a few moments these can be recognised as 

 approaching larks, lapwings, hooded crows, or gulls. 

 With a favourable wind they come in untired, dropping 

 towards the beach, but seldom alight at once; but when 

 they have been contending with a contrary wind these 

 fresh arrivals are often so weary that it is almost im- 

 possible to flush them from the bushes or long grass in 

 which they have taken refuge. I could one day have 

 again and again kicked a lark which refused to move 

 when I almost stepped upon it, and I sat on a balk of 

 timber a foot or two away from a panting, palpitating 

 starling. One morning the ridge and every hedgerow 



