AT THE WATER'S EDGE 



jO look for water fowl in mid-winter, 

 in this latitude, is quite likely to be 

 a veritable wild-goose chase, not- 

 withstanding the fact that several 

 species regularly appear in our neighborhood 

 at that season. All the coast of New Jersey, 

 Long Island, and New England is a resort of 

 all species that find the winter climate of the 

 Northern States congenial. But having, at 

 this season, no local attachments and home 

 ties, as in the breeding period, they are con- 

 tinually roaming hither and thither along the 

 edge of the sea, apparently governed by no 

 impulse save to find their requisite daily food. 

 Even in the case of the land birds, which are 

 certainly less flighty than their aquatic neigh- 

 bors, it is quite a matter of chance whether in 

 winter they will be found in a given region at 

 a particular time. Much more then must the 

 naturalist be prepared to have his researches 

 crowned with disappointment, when he at- 



IS5 



