i8o ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



of tidal rivers to more inland districts. The shores 

 of the Wash in autumn are certainly one of the 

 most interesting haunts of birds in this country. 

 Miles of mud-flat and salt-marsh, an endless laby- 

 rinth of pools and streams, form a safe retreat for 

 almost every species of British shore-bird, from 

 the big lumbering Gulls and Geese to the shy 

 Ducks, wild Curlews, and dainty Dunlins. The 

 arrival of these birds depends a good deal on the 

 state of the season. If a mild and open one, 

 November is well advanced before the coast is in 

 any way crowded with birds ; but in severe seasons 

 they swarm there in October. The fishermen profit 

 by such an abundance of birds, and thousands are 

 netted or shot every year in this one district alone. 

 Miles of netting are stretched across the muds in 

 most parts of the Lincolnshire Wash, and with a 

 suitable tide and favourable weather vast quan- 

 tities of birds are caught. Many a storm-driven 

 feathered wanderer is observed in this district 

 during the autumn. After severe gales, the various 

 species of Petrel are often taken in the flight nets, 

 south, about anc [ mav sometimes be seen flying about in a 

 October, bewildered sort of a way. Here the Fulmar is 

 often seen, driven in from the German Ocean by 

 the wind, and hopelessly lost in the land-locked 

 Wash. Here the Stormy Petrel and its congener, 

 the Fork-tailed Petrel, lose their way in the dark- 

 ness of the night and the blinding tempest, some- 

 times even flying over the land in vain attempt to 

 find the open sea again. Now and then a Northern 



