196 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



sometimes alight upon the coast, especially in the 

 Torquay portion of the bay, where the shore is 

 somewhat muddy. Such a pair visited us in the 

 autumn of 1897, an d so tame were they that one 

 of them was caught. The birds are more numerous 

 in the muddy areas of the Exe and Teign. The 

 first week in May invariably brings us the Whimbrel. 

 Great numbers of these birds pass over the Tor 

 Bay district by night, as may be proved by their 

 well-known Cries uttered whilst on passage. On 

 the still May nights we often stand and listen to 

 the passing flocks, sometimes flying just overhead, 

 at others at heights so remote that their cries can 

 scarcely be heard. They fly low on overcast, misty 

 nights; high when the moon and stars are shining 

 brightly. The flocks succeed each other at in- 

 tervals of a few minutes, but sometimes much 

 longer periods divide them. First the well-known 

 notes may be heard sounding faintly from afar, 

 louder and louder becomes the rapid chorus of 

 tittering cries, until the birds are directly over- 

 head, then they grow fainter and fainter as the 

 flock pursues its way almost directly north. The 

 birds do not return so regularly in autumn, but 

 the flocks may be heard crossing the night sky in 



