300 ANNALS OF BIRD LIFE. 



footprints mingled with those of smaller fowl ; and 

 there are the singular impressions left by the 

 lobed feet of the Coot. Here and there are the 

 short thick steps of the Oystercatcher on the mud 

 banks, conspicuous by having no imprint of a 

 hind toe, which is wanting in this species. These 

 pretty birds have been digging for cockles in the 

 sand ; we heard their loud wild pipe of alarm a 

 quarter of an hour ago, as they rose into the air 

 and sped along the coast to quieter haunts ; the 

 writing they have left upon the mud tells us 

 plainly what they were about. 



A little further on, the mud bears the marks of 

 many feet, imprinted there by wanderers up and 

 down the shore. There, by the rippling waves, 

 the Sanderling has been tripping to and fro. He 

 feeds close by the wash of the tide, and we may- 

 know his tiny feet from all the rest because the 

 hind toe is wanting. Other birds have also been 

 feeding here and left their tracks behind them. 

 These are the impressions made by the members 

 of the genus Tringa, identified by having all the 

 toes cleft to the base. A flock of Knots have 

 rested there, and spread out in regular order, all 

 with head to wind, to search systematically every 

 foot of ground. This flock took their departure 

 suddenly and in a compact mass, for not a stray 

 outlying footprint is anywhere to be seen. The 

 Dunlin, with his more delicately formed foot, has 

 also been feeding close by ; three hundred yards 

 ahead of us, the flock is still upon the shore, a 



