SOME VISITING CARDS. 301 



restless, busy company. Already they are alarmed 

 at our presence, and, moved by a common im- 

 pulse, a thousand wings are spread together, and 

 the wary birds are gone far down the coast, their 

 pinions gleaming like silver in the sun. Easily 

 distinguished also are the footprints of the birds 

 forming the genus Totanus, in all of which the 

 outer and middle toes are united by a membrane 

 at the base. The dainty Redshank leaves the erratic 

 tracery of its orange-coloured feet upon the mud 

 more frequently than any other birds of this 

 group ; but sometimes the larger footprints of the 

 Greenshank and the Goduits may be seen. 

 Many Gulls have rested on the mud from time to 

 time. Those impressions at our feet have left a 

 tale behind them. We can picture how a large 

 Gull swept gracefully down from the air and 

 alighted here. There are the two footprints 

 side by side, made by the bird when first 

 dropping on the mud ; then we can trace the 

 walking to and fro ; and finally, the last few 

 footsteps as this Gull ran forward, expanding 

 its long wings, and then rising fluttering into the 

 air. All this is plainly written here, as clearly 

 and distinctly as though we absolutely saw the 

 bird in the act of inditing it ! 



Now let us leave the mud-flats, and wend our 

 way inland to the distant fields and woods. We 

 shall find writing there as interesting, though the 

 tale it tells will be a different one. How smooth 

 and white the country looks ; snow tones down 



