In the Neighbourhood of Salisbury. 225 



birds began to wheel around and above us. First came the Dunlin, 

 or Purre, in clouds, flying so close and thick together that with a 

 double discharge you could have " filled a hatful]/" as the old gunner 

 said who was with us. Mixed with them were the Ringed Dotterel 

 and a little apart were small parties of Sanderling. The Purple 

 Sandpiper also put in an appearance here and there, and a rather 

 larger bird to be noticed among the others now and then, declared 

 the presence of the Turnstone. As the tide still further receded the 

 Oyster Catcher, in his pied plumage, flew over your head in small 

 parties, peering down upon you with its painted bill hanging down 

 at right angles to his body, whilst our friends the May birds, or 

 Whimbrel, were scattered over the sands in some numbers, enlivening 

 the scene with their shrill whistle. Far over your head, and the first 

 to detect you in your hiding-place, was the watchful Curlew, only 

 one of which came within shot, as I have recorded in the last 

 paragraph, and which fell dead far out to sea ; while Gulls of various 

 sorts, and also the swallow-tailed Tern, added their presence and 

 cries to the rest. Soon the tide, receding very rapidly as it does in 

 the estuary, left our hiding-places far out of gun-shot, and sallying 

 forth we traversed the flats in different directions, in search of 

 whatever species we might come across. Soon a new sight greeted 

 us. Flocks of hundreds of Ducks appeared on the scene. The 

 Mallard with his partner came in scores ; the Widgeon in flocks of 

 twenty or thirty ; the red-headed Pochard, Tufted Duck, and other 

 varieties, while here and there, amid the throng of Anatidae several 

 pairs of the beautiful and unmistakable Shield-drake added variety 

 and colour to the mass of birds, which otherwise looked like dark 

 patches of weed where they alighted. In vain, however, we tried 

 to add any of these to our bag. There was no kind of cover for us 

 to make use of, and although they allowed us at times to creep up 

 within some hundred yards or so, they invariably at that distance 

 took wing and circling round pitched again some mile or more off, 

 in perfect security upon the wide-spreading sands. And now some 

 hours had glided by, and the tide had once more begun to flow, 

 when a new species of bird I had not before observed attracted my 

 attention, the Grey Plover, winging its way with such rapidity of 



