1909.
Oct. 1 [October 1, 1909]
(No 3)
rod and in many places not a square yard on which
a Gull, Lapwing, Curlew, Plover, Red-shank or other
Limicoline bird was not standing or running about in 
search of food. For as a rule they were not less evenly
than generally dispersed. About some of the tidal
pools, however, I saw them collected in clusters, while great
flocks were continually seen on wing, doubling and circling
low over the flats in compact bunches or stringing out
in long lines or ribbons which, at a distance against the
sky, looked like the trailing smoke of a steamer. Some
of these flocks must have contained four or five hundred birds
each. Of what species they were composed I could not tell
but I think that there were many Dunlins among them. Among
the birds on the sands, Gulls, Lapwings and Red-shanks
were most numerously represented. Of the total number of birds
seen on these flats I could form no definite estimate.