FEEDING-HABITS OF THE DUNLIN. 







with a minute deviation of direction at each downstroke. So 

 each stroke of the bill is of a compound nature. There is the 

 main stroke, and during it a number of lesser strokes, which 

 bring the point of the bill into contact with a larger surface. 

 At intervals the Dunlin finds something good to eat. This is 

 made plain by its eagerness, by the deeper sinking of the bill, the 

 snapping of the mandibles and their sudden withdrawal, grasping 

 an object which, if small enough, is swallowed before the bill is 

 entirely clear of the ground. If contact is made with a worm 

 the bill is propelled downwards over the upper end of the worm 

 by a number of quick thrusts, the mandibles being separated 

 during the thrusts and closed tightly on the worm between each, 

 when the reverted cusps on the palate and the edges of the 

 mandibles prevent the worm from slipping back into its burrow. 

 The result is that an equal length of the worm is grasped by the 

 whole length of the bill, and the worm is ready for extraction, 

 which is effected by one or more steady and gentle pulls. The 

 need for this even distribution of pressure is understood when 

 the extreme softness and fragility of the worms are taken into 

 account. 



The method of feeding by touch alone is applied to soft 

 ground under water, to muddy ooze and shifting sands in which 

 food is abundant and exhibits no surface markings, to seaweed 

 whether attached to the rocks or drifting up shore on the waves, 

 to moss and spongy turf, and to the strip of firm sand along 

 high- water mark. This part abounds usually with Sandhoppers 

 and the larvae of flies which leave no visible marks by which 

 they can be traced. The process here is more one of rapid 

 tapping than of probing the sand. As they flounder over very 

 soft ooze they may be seen to plough the mud steadily with their 

 bills, and to draw them about as if they were tracing patterns of 

 complicated design. Probably they act under water in the same 

 way, but it is not easy then to be sure. 



Where sight and touch are given together, I mean to express 

 uncertainty as to which sense is the more important. They are 

 illustrated by the movements of Dunlins on smooth and fairly 

 dry sandy areas, inhabited by a moderate number of thin- 

 skinned Crustacea. These animals in their subterranean bur- 

 rowings leave aggregations of minute pits here and there on the 



