24 ON THE BIRDS' HIGHWAY 



Stubble ; they are generally to be found 



in company with the former species. One 



of the most noticeable features of these 



dunes are the myriads of tracks, both of 



bird and mammal, that trace their 



surfaces. Crows, gulls, larks and 



buntings could be followed by 



-.jisft,. their footprints ; 



^M-"'^-^^ and skunks, too, 



had done some 

 midnight hunting, 

 while the small 

 tracks of field mice 

 marked their wan- 

 dering about the sand. 



Small patches of stunted firs and cran- 

 berry grew in the hollows between the 

 hills, giving color to the landscape, and 

 the ridges themselves were covered with a 

 thin growth of yellow grasses [Ammophila 

 arenaria), the seed tassels of which were 

 eagerly sought for by the larks and bunt- 

 ing. Great flocks of crows crossed and 

 recrossed the neck, cawing incessantly. 

 Four meadow larks were seen several 

 times during the afternoon on the marsh- 

 lands of the Essex River. Gaining the 

 summit of the highest dune we watched 



