234 ANIMALS AT WORK AND PL A Y 



'sanctuary,' and in one such reserve, suited for these 

 birds, the writer has seen several species, such as the 

 redshanks, snipe, and grey plover, usually unap- 

 proachable elsewhere, sleeping or resting within thirty 

 yards of the furze bush behind which he was 

 concealed. Those who have seen the shore fowl 

 on the eastern coasts, the knots, stints, plover, and 

 curlew, rising literally in thousands, and drifting like 

 dark clouds across the sands, but unapproachable 

 either by the naturalist or the sportsman, will realise 

 the interest and novelty of seeing them at close 

 quarters. 



A large area, whether of land or water, is a 

 desirable but not a necessary condition for the 

 establishment of a sanctuary. Confidence in the friend- 

 liness of human beings, and not the absence of man- 

 kind, is what wild fowl rely upon in selecting a 

 home for the hours of daylight. The wholly wild 

 ducks exhibit none of that natural preference for 

 total seclusion which is instinctive even in coop- 

 reared pheasants. The brain power of the duck is 

 very considerable greater probably than that of 

 any other bird (except the goose) commonly 

 domesticated. There is no reason to doubt that 

 they gauge accurately the limits of danger and 

 safety when passing from the open country to pro- 

 tected waters, and by a process of reasoning as 



