206 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



of which are the resort of a great variety of bird-life. 

 The H umber and the Tyne on the east coast, the 

 Solway, the Lune, the Kibble, and the Mersey on 

 the west coast of England are capital instances of 

 such. The mud-flats up to tidal limits, often extend- 

 ing many miles inland, are favourite feeding -places 

 of large numbers of wading birds, not only during 

 the two seasons of migration, but throughout the 

 winter months. In summer these places are more 

 or less uninviting; the birds are scattered far and 

 wide, not only over our own uplands and inland 

 waters, but beyond the seas on arctic tundras; in 

 early autumn the birds appear again in small num- 

 bers, and as that season advances become increas- 

 ingly numerous. When these birds of mud-flat and 

 sand-bank depart, little else is left but an occasional 

 Gull, or possibly a laggard wading bird or two that 

 from some reason or another have not migrated with 

 their companions. We might, however, mention that 

 in or near the beds of some of these northern rivers 

 the Ringed Plover breeds. In spring and autumn 

 companies of Terns hang about these estuaries; the 

 Sandwich, Common, Arctic, and Lesser Terns ap- 

 pear from the middle of April onwards; their return 

 is noticed during August and the first half of Sep- 

 tember. These dates are nearly coincident with 

 those at which we notice these birds in the Devon- 

 shire estuaries, save that in autumn the migration 



