426 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



morning when I startled the birds, and they would not settle for 

 a long time, or stay long when they did (if, indeed, it was really 

 owing to that), this bird was a marked exception to the rest, and 

 was on the place most of the time. Almost always, when, on 

 coming, I have found a single bird here, it has been he, or if 

 there have been a few he has generally been of the number. Thus 

 he exhibits more attachment to the meeting-ground than do any 

 of the others, and of these others some few show more than the 

 rest — for, as hardly any two birds are quite alike in their plu- 

 mage, I can recognize the more frequent club-haunters. Thus, 

 then, we have variations in the individual strength of the im- 

 pulse to seek the gathering-ground, which mark, as I suppose, 

 the different stages through which the habit of thus associating 

 together, in one special place, has arisen. What has been its 

 origin, or through what early stages has it passed ? As a 

 possible answer to this, I will here interpolate some observations 

 which I made not on the Ruff, but on the Eedshanks, a bird be- 

 longing to the same family. 



April 9th. — For the last quarter of an hour or so I have watched 

 the following sport or play of Redshanks : — A little company of 

 them, numbering, at first, eight, and then varying from eleven, 

 as a maximum, to now only four, have stood together in a certain 

 sandy spot, from which, at intervals, they all rise up, and make 

 a little Rundreise round about, not going very far from the place, 

 to which, before long, they return, and settle there as before. 

 There is an interval, then, of standing or walking about, then 

 another little flight and return, and this continues indefinitely — 

 I do not know how long, as a rule, but in the present instance 

 half an hour has gone by, and there have been perhaps a dozen 

 of these little excursions. An inopportune passing by of some 

 one, who spoke to me, would seem to have put an end to them. 

 The number, as I say, of the birds does not continue constant, 

 for either some of the original ones separate from their com- 

 panions and fly off, the residue only coming back, or these, or 

 the whole body, are joined by some others, or else some fly up, 

 after the party have settled. Thus there have been, at different 

 times, eight, eleven, seven, six, four, nine, and so on ; but the 

 sport, if we may call it so, has continued, and probably a certain 

 number of the first eight have returned each time. I must 



