WATCHING GREAT PLOVERS, ETC. 7 



motions, the whole strongly suggestive of professional 

 skill. The moth eludes him, however, and the bird 

 stops rigidly, having apparently lost sight of it. 

 Shortly afterwards, after it has flown some way, he 

 sees it again and makes another swift run in pursuit, 

 catching it up again and making his quick little pecks, 

 but unsuccessfully, as before. Then there is the same 

 pause, followed by the same run, then a close, near 

 chase, and finally the moth is caught and eaten. 

 Other moths, or other insects, now appear upon the 

 scene, or if they do not appear — for even with the 

 best of glasses such pin-points are mostly invisible — 

 it is evident from the actions of the birds that they 

 are there. Chase after chase is witnessed, all made 

 in the same manner, with sometimes a straight-up 

 jump into the air at the end and a snap that one 

 seems almost to hear — a last effort, but which, judging 

 by the bird's demeanour afterwards, fails, as last efforts 

 usually do. 



A social feeling seems to pervade these hunting- 

 scenes, a sort of " Have you got one ? T have. That 

 bird over there's caught two" idea. This may be 

 imaginary, still the whole scene with its various little 

 incidents suggests it to one. The stone - curlew, 

 therefore, besides his more ordinary food of worms, 

 slugs, and the like — I have seen him in company 

 with peewits, searching for worms, much as do 

 thrushes on the lawn — is likewise a runner down 

 and "snapper up of" such "unconsidered trifles" 

 as moths and other insects on the wing. I had seen 

 him chasing them, indeed, long before I knew what 

 he was doing, for I had connected those sudden, 

 racing runs — seen before from a long distance — with 



