. The aquatic birds of Great Britain and Ireland . of variety. At one moment theflock spreads itself horizontally in a sheet-like mass, suddenlyit lifts itself and speeds vertically along like a great sail ;the next instant all the birds are clustered together, appear-ing for a second like a moving bunch of grapes which shootsup and down through the air with remarkable speed. Asthey pass by with a mighty rush of wings, the pleasingchatter and purr from their voices can be heard they seem to vanish suddenly from sight as they turntheir shaded backs, and finally, as they disappear
. The aquatic birds of Great Britain and Ireland . of variety. At one moment theflock spreads itself horizontally in a sheet-like mass, suddenlyit lifts itself and speeds vertically along like a great sail ;the next instant all the birds are clustered together, appear-ing for a second like a moving bunch of grapes which shootsup and down through the air with remarkable speed. Asthey pass by with a mighty rush of wings, the pleasingchatter and purr from their voices can be heard they seem to vanish suddenly from sight as they turntheir shaded backs, and finally, as they disappear in thedistance, they resemble a puff of smoke or a little dark cloudwhich becomes lost to view as it passes along the a time have I watched the precision with which animmense flock of Dunlins will suddenly split up into smallercompanies, which then separate widely from one movement of numbers in concert drew the remark ofthe old Irish sailor, Sorra one bit of use in drilling, for theyare the best soldiers on the ^^ OJ , 1 1—< ^ p ■—■ ,0 ^ -c 73 3 A -2 ^ 0 ^-1 ^ t^ 3 2; 0 DUNLIN 291 The Dunlin is subject to considerable variation in size,length of bill, and shade of plumage. The Arctic-breedingspecies are duller in colour and larger than those that nestin more temperate climes. The North American form islarge and possesses a long beak, while in the nuptial plumagethe back and scapulars are tipped with light rufous smaller race, described by Brehm, in 1822, as T. schinzi,has usually a short and straight beak. This form breeds onthe Outer Hebrides, in Tiree, and other parts of West andNorth Scotland, and in many parts of England and possess a specimen with a beak barely one inch in lengthand almost perfectly straight (Plate XXIV., fig. 1), I ob-tained it from one of the midland counties of Ireland inthe breeding-season. According to Cordeaux the short-billed Dunlin is often tame, and resorts to the borders ofthe
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectwaterbi, bookyear1906
