184 IN BIRD LAND. 



bands, thus early proclaiming the persistence of its 

 type. When I set it down — for I had lifted it in 

 my hand — it started to run over the soft ground, 

 enhancing its speed by flapping its tiny wings. The 

 picture was indescribably cunning. The bird was so 

 small that it looked like a downy dot scudding over 

 the undulations of the ground. Think of a baby 

 only about fifteen hours old running away from 

 home in that manner ! I caught the infantile scape- 

 grace and placed it back in its cradle, where it 

 remained. During the night there had been a very 

 heavy fall of rain, and yet these youngsters, small as 

 they were, had not been drowned, having doubtless 

 been covered by their parents. At six o'clock in 

 the evening they had all left the nest, and, search as 

 I would, I could find no clew to their whereabouts, 

 though the parent birds were flying and scuttling 

 about with loud cries of warning to me to keep my 

 distance. Thus it would seem that young plovers, 

 like young partridges, grouse, and ducks, leave the 

 nest at a very tender age. 



Before closing, I must mention something odd 

 that befell a kingfisher's nest. A year prior I had 

 found a nest in a high bank in a sloping field, where 

 the water had washed out a deep gully. In passing 

 the bank one day I noticed that it had been partly 

 broken down ; there had been a landslide on a small 

 scale, caused by the washing of the heavy spring 

 rains. Half way to the top, on a narrow shelf, lay a 

 clutch of kingfisher's eggs, some of them broken by 

 the caving of the bank. The landslide had occurred 



