FLIGHT OF SANDPIPERS 
171 
its edges. Far away, at a safe distance, are many 
curlews and oyster-catchers. But see, scattered all 
over the sand, running with a half-hopping motion, 
and as they rise on wing displaying the white of 
their wings and tail, the beautiful snow buntings. 
At the edge of the water stand in a fixed and 
watchful posture a pair of herons; and, out at sea, 
are seen here and there a few dark-coloured birds, 
which may be cormorants or ducks. A flight of 
sandpipers is a beautiful sight; there they wheel 
around the distant point, and advance over the 
margin of the water; swiftly and silently they glide 
along; now, all inclining their bodies to one side, 
present to view their under surface, glistening in 
the sunshine; again, bending to the other side, 
they have changed their colour to dusky grey; a 
shot is fired, and they plunge with an abrupt turn, 
curve aside, ascend with a gliding flight, and all, 
uttering shrill cries, fly over the stream to settle 
on the shore that stretches out towards Barnbogle 
ruins. I have seen the sand fords of the Hebrides 
in autumn, when those birds descend with their 
broods from the moors, almost completely covered 
with them and the golden plovers. 
What interest one could find in merely describ¬ 
ing the skins of these birds in his closet, it is some¬ 
what difficult to imagine ; nor is it obvious that the 
examination of their structure, without any reference 
to their habits, is a much more rational occupation. 
The mere closet-naturalist, and the mere anatomist, 
find little to interest them in such a sight as this; 
