COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SHORE. 343 



The goosander, the smew, and other birds fre- 

 quent the shore, while grebes and divers dash 

 down into the waters after the fish, and the pied 

 oyster-catcher seats himself on the rocky crag, 

 not so much delighting in the oyster from which 

 it has its name, as in the resistless limpet and the 

 mussel, which have little chance against the attacks 

 of its strong bill. This bird is also called Sea 

 Woodcock and Olive. It is very common on the 

 low flat coasts of our 

 island, its beautiful 

 glossy black wings and 

 back contrasting with 

 the white plumage of its 

 breast and the under 

 portion of its expanded 

 wing. It lays its eggs 

 on the low ground or 

 shingle. They are four in number, of pale olive- 

 green, blotched with white. 



The loud solitary whistle of some lone curlew 

 (Numenius arquatus) has an almost thrilling sound, 

 as we listen to it at some distance, while the clear 

 shrill tones uttered by the large flocks of curlews, 

 or the notes of " courlie, courlie," which they utter 

 as they sweep around the head of one who ap- 

 proaches their nest, heard when alone on the shore, 

 far from human habitations, are among the wildest 

 of the tones of nature. These birds, as well as 

 the oyster-catcher, belong to the tribe of waders, 

 and are adapted for wading in search of food, by 

 having the greater part of their legs free from 

 feathers. In this tribe, too, we find those joyous 

 little birds the sandpipers, sometimes called Sea 

 Snipes. These birds frequent all parts of our 



