344 



COMMON OBJECTS OF THE SHORE. 



coast. Troops of the Dunlin (Tringa variabilis), 

 which Buffon called the Sea LarK, appear sometimes 

 like a dark cloud, while we see their backs only, 

 but immediately after, all in a moment, as if under 

 the command of some one which all the other 

 birds obey, every individual will turn up at once, 

 and almost dazzle us by a sudden display of the 

 white and silvery under plumage. It is most 

 amusing to watch them as they run along. They 

 seem very types of mirth and sprightliness, moving 

 their tails up and down, and uttering a low gentle 

 note, as they seek their food among the shingle or 

 on the salt marshes near the sea. The dunlin 

 makes a neat little nest, and its eggs, of greenish 



grey, tapering at one end and spotted with brown, 

 are always four in number, and are disposed in the 



