body is held in a horizontal position; the neck retracted; the head either directed forward or with the bill buried among the feathers of the back. In this attitude they present a very curious appearance when seen in a high wind, as each bird directs its breast towards the quarter from which it blows. On a sandy beach they often follow each other in long lines, or crouch to the ground. Their flight is strong and steady, performed by regular beats of the extended wings, with the neck drawn in, and the feet directed backwards. When going to sleep they rest on one leg only. Over the surface of the sandy shore they run with great rapidity, and wade with ease in muddy places, their short, flat-soled feet being well adapted for that purpose. During the period of incubation the Sea Pies utter a great variety of pleasing notes, whilst at other times their cry is not particularly agreeable. Of all the many feathered occupants of our shores, these birds are by far the most restless and pugnacious, though apparently without malice. Towards all their larger companions they exhibit an incessant desire to resent intrusion, and at once dart upon a bird of prey with loud cries, and drive the unwelcome visitor away from the spot. Should no foreign foe appear, and thus afford them an opportunity for venting their exuberant spirits, the males will harry and annoy each other until their fury rising, the strife that apparently began in sport terminates in a real battle, during which the antagonists strike each other most mercilessly with their wings and beak. Towards men they exhibit extreme shyness, and, except during the breeding season, scarcely permit his approach. In this particular, however, they show much intelligence, and readily distinguish the shepherd or fishermen from their enemy the sportsman. "After the breeding season," says Macgillivray, "the Sea Pies, especially plentiful in the Scottish Isles, form flocks that are frequently very numerous, being composed of from twenty to one hundred individuals or more. At this period they are met with chiefly on the low rocky shores, or at the mouths of rivers, where at low water they obtain their food, which consists of limpets, barnacles, small bivalve shells swallowed entire, young crabs, and other marine animals. Although frequently seen on extensive low sands, they seem rather to betake themselves thither for security than for the purpose of looking for food. On low, pebbly, muddy, or sandy shores they always prefer the edge of the water, in which they wade, although they search the exposed parts. Limpets and barnacles form their chief food; but, although they have been said to eat oysters and large bivalve mollusca, I have not found such animals in their stomach. The bivalve shells found in their gizzard or œsophagus are generally, when of small size, either entire or merely crushed, but when large, are deprived in a greater or less degree of their testaceous envelopes.