On the Seashore | Page 7

only a hole in the sand or shingle, lined
with small stones or shells. The eggs are coloured and marked so that
they are hard to see among the stones which surround them. The
youngsters wear a fluffy suit of grey, marked with dark streaks and dots;
and it takes very sharp eyes indeed to pick them out from the shingle
where they crouch.

The Ringed Plover is another bird which loves the sandy, pebbly
margin of the sea. Have you ever watched him there? He is not much
larger than a plump lark, and he runs quickly along the beach, stooping
now and again to pick up the morsels of food which his keen eye
detects.
But, all the while, he is watching you with the other eye, for he is a
wary little bird, and not to be taken by surprise. If you can get near him,
you will notice his rather long yellowish legs, greyish-brown back, and,
more than all, the white collar round his neck, and the black band
showing on his white chest. Again we see the black-and-white
markings which are so useful to the bird of the shore.
Everyone who knows the Ringed Plover loves to watch him. He is one
of the daintiest, most fairy-like birds. When he is picking up worms and
sand-hoppers on the wet sand he is easily observed. But wait! He flies
off and settles on the shingle not far away. You walk nearer, to watch
him. Alas! he is gone. You know just where he settled, yet he is gone!
He has often played that trick on me.
The secret lies in his grey, white-and-black markings. When our ships
were in danger from enemy submarines, our sailors painted them with
queer stripes and bars, to make it hard for the enemy to see them.
Nature has marked the Ringed Plover on the same plan. The feathers
are so coloured and the colours are so arranged that, once among the
grey, yellow, black, and white pebbles on the beach, the little bird is
invisible. It is as if the earth had swallowed him up.
The eggs, too, are just as hard to find. There is no nest to "give the
game away"; and the eggs look just like the pebbles amongst which
they are laid. The young ones are protected from their enemies in the
same way, and they crouch, as still as death, amid the stones which
they so much resemble.
Now let us leave the beach and look for the Redshank on the mud-flats.
Many birds would starve there, but the Redshank is quite happy, as
Nature has fitted him for his life in such a place. His long, red
legs--from which he gets his name--are for wading in the shallow,

muddy creeks he loves. Those wide-spreading feet keep him from
sinking in the mud.
The long beak is for probing. As a rule the Redshank digs for his dinner,
though he also picks up any worms or other food on the surface; but he
is nearly always seen probing the mud.
Like all the shore birds, Redshanks are very wary. They have no hedges
or trees for hiding-places, and so must always be on the watch. No
sooner does the Redshank spy you than he is up and, with a shrill
whistle of alarm, flies quickly away.
The marshes are the home of many a bird like the Redshank. They are
all waders and diggers. They live much as he does, and so they have the
long beak and legs, and the spreading feet, to fit them for that life.
We have now looked at a few sea birds, shore birds, and a marsh bird.
Many inland birds, too, are fond of the shore. The artful Jackdaw builds
in the cliffs, and his cousin, the Crow, searches the shore for food. Even
the gay Kingfisher has been seen diving in the seaside pools.
EXERCISES
1. How do you know which is the Black-headed Gull in the summer
months?
2. Why is it difficult to see the Ringed Plover on the stones of the
shore?
3. Where would you look for the eggs of the Ringed Plover and of the
Black-headed Gull?
4. Why have marsh birds such long beaks?

LESSON IV.
CRABS.

Little Crabs are to be found everywhere along the sea-shore--not the
monsters of the fishmonger's shop, but small greenish-brownish Crabs.
They live in the weed of the rock-pools, and in the wet sand. These are
the Shore Crabs; the large Edible Crabs are a different kind, and live
mostly in deep water.
Shore Crabs are quarrelsome little creatures; the larger ones are always
ready to gobble up the smaller ones, or to snatch their food and run
away with it. If you put some dead mussels