244 EARLY SPRING IN MASSACHUSETTS. 
them four or five females. They are now pair¬ 
ing. I should say one or two pairs are made. 
At first we see only a male and female quite on 
the alert, some way out on the pond, tacking 
back and forth, and looking every way. They 
keep close together, headed one way, and when 
one turns the other also turns quickly. The 
male appears to take the lead. Soon the rest 
appear, sailing out from the shore into sight. 
We hear a squeaking note as if made by a 
pump, and presently see four or five great her¬ 
ring gulls wheeling about. Sometimes they 
make a sound like the scream of a hen hawk. 
They are shaped somewhat like a very thick 
white rolling-pin sharpened at both ends. At 
length they alight near the ducks. The shel¬ 
drakes at length acquire confidence, come close 
in shore and go to preening themselves. 
They are all busy about it -at once. 
Among them, or near by, I at length detect 
three or four whistlers by their wanting the red 
bill, being considerably smaller and less white, 
having a white spot on the head, a black back, 
and altogether less white. They also keep 
more or less apart and do not dive when the 
rest do.At length I detect two little 
dippers, as I have called them, though I am 
not sure that I have ever seen the male before. 
They are male and female.They are in- 
