﻿THE 
  BIRDS 
  OF 
  NORTH 
  KENT. 
  179 
  

  

  large 
  Grass- 
  Snake 
  which 
  I 
  one 
  clay 
  found 
  making 
  its 
  way 
  along 
  

   the 
  beach 
  might 
  be 
  a 
  more 
  dangerous 
  enemy. 
  

  

  By 
  the 
  first 
  week 
  in 
  August 
  the 
  beach 
  itself 
  will 
  be 
  deserted, 
  

   but 
  feeding 
  along 
  the 
  coast, 
  or 
  sitting 
  on 
  the 
  beaches 
  not 
  far 
  

   from 
  the 
  nesting 
  sites, 
  the 
  whole 
  colony, 
  young 
  and 
  old, 
  will 
  be 
  

   found 
  collected 
  into 
  one 
  flock. 
  They 
  are 
  then 
  often 
  seen 
  flying 
  

   in 
  regular 
  formation, 
  such 
  as 
  is 
  adopted 
  by 
  the 
  Dunlin 
  and 
  

   Golden 
  Plover. 
  They 
  will 
  also 
  occasionally 
  have 
  associated 
  with 
  

   them 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  birds. 
  Last 
  year 
  (1903), 
  early 
  in 
  August, 
  

   I 
  saw 
  a 
  mixed 
  flock 
  consisting 
  of 
  about 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  

   Lesser 
  Terns, 
  thirty 
  or 
  forty 
  Ringed 
  Plovers, 
  as 
  many 
  Dunlin, 
  

   still 
  with 
  dark 
  breasts, 
  a 
  dozen 
  or 
  more 
  Common 
  Terns, 
  and 
  

   half 
  a 
  dozen 
  Turnstones. 
  It 
  is 
  at 
  this 
  season 
  that 
  one 
  can 
  get 
  

   some 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  birds 
  in 
  the 
  colony, 
  and 
  my 
  estimates 
  

   for 
  the 
  last 
  three 
  years 
  were, 
  approximately, 
  eighty 
  birds 
  in 
  1901, 
  

   one 
  hundred 
  to 
  one 
  hundred 
  and 
  twenty 
  in 
  1902, 
  and 
  one 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  fifty 
  in 
  1903. 
  

  

  p2 
  

  

  