Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/234

212 a shell-heap,—opportunities again occur of a double shot, as you see the Plover coming, but to kill a double here is also quick practice. On fine calm weather Plover, however, often come across the sea-wall at a great height, and do not lower until almost over the tide-mark, or at all events a good 100 or 150 yards beyond the shell-bank. At such times the shooting is seldom good, and the only plan is to get out upon the mud as far as possible, and keep a sharp look out for stray shots. Plover after their dive down over the sea-wall often separate and scatter over the mud, uniting their forces again as they approach the edge of the water. These scattered birds usually fly with great velocity, and sometimes twist and turn almost like Snipe. It seems, indeed, as if the very impetuosity of their headlong dive across the sea-wall had deprived them of the power of re-directing their flight, and as if the twists and turns were made in the effort to steady it again. Here is an opportunity for another kind of shot, and a very pretty one it is, too. Altogether, at least upon our coast, there is abundant diversity of shots at single birds to be had, and often, with or without a second gun, five or six couples may be bagged, and sometimes more, if one hits off just the right tides—just the right wind and weather. There is comparatively little written, I think, upon this part of the shore-shooters experiences. It has always seemed to me to be of first importance for a successful day's Plover or shore-shooting, to have— first, the wind right; second, the tide right; and, third, the weather not with too much rain, or vice versâ, and with, later in the year, a certain amount of frost. If to this be added mist off the sea, keeping the birds from straying far inland, good sport may be looked for; but in misty weather birds "bunch up" more than they do in clear weather, as a rule.— (Dunipace House, Larbert, N.B.).

—The Water Ouzel, or, as it is more commonly called, the Dipper, is very frequently met with in the English Lake District, as also in many other parts of England, Scotland and Wales. It loves wild hilly districts, and especially rapid rivers fed by mountain streams. Here, amid the rocks and waterfalls, it may be observed, now flying, or rather darting, up or down the stream, and in its manner of flight resembling the Kingfisher and Sandpiper; anon sitting on a stone or rock in mid-stream, or, if in search of food, walking at the bottom of the stream in search of water beetles and other insects. It is a shy bird, and from its rapid movements very likely to elude observation. There can be no mistaking it, however, for any other species; its white breast, brownish black back, short tail, and feet so admirably adapted for walking on stones, cannot fail to distinguish it. Water Ouzels are early breeders; one year I saw no less than eight nests in the neighbourhood of Windermere; they were all built in April, and