240 BIRD LIFE THROUGHOUT THE YEAR 



to take front rank. Every bird is keen on pushing 

 his own business and in such a hurry that manners 

 have to go. In the midst of their quarrelling they 

 suddenly dart into the air, and begin frantically 

 manoeuvring, then fall as if shot, striking the 

 ground with a thud. Just as they do this, a 

 Sparrow-hawk dashes through their ranks, and, 

 without checking its flight, goes off with one of 

 their number. 



A wet December, when the streams run bank-high, 

 floods the river-flats and forms wide, shallow plashes 

 beloved of the lapwings and equally attractive to 

 wandering gulls and wading-birds of all sorts. A 

 tall, moody-looking Heron comes to see whether the 

 newly-discovered lakelet affords scope for his pisca- 

 torial craft. Such Meadow Pipits and Pied Wagtails 

 as have not left us trip daintily about the water's edge, 

 and, as the floods subside, the Carrion Crow comes to 

 look over the slimy deposit which remains on chance 

 of stranded fish or drowned-out mice. The month 

 seldom passes without more or less rough weather, 

 and sometimes brings a storm which, upon the coast, 

 may vie with the worst of the autumn gales. The 

 shore-haunting gulls, with a premonition of what is 

 coming, pass overhead drifting inland for shelter. 

 All night it blows great guns, and next morning, when 

 the air is full of spindrift and flying foam-flakes, we 

 see the Kittiwakes, under ordinary circumstances 



