The eiders are occasionally seen varying their diet with a vegetable course. Seizing the tip of a tangle blade two or three inches from the surface, they spin round it like a top, till the portion held in their bill is twisted off and greedily swallowed. No need for them to evade the gulls while engaged in this repast. It is most amusing to witness the discomfiture of the gulls as they hurry from a distance expecting to share in something edible, only to find the duck negotiating six inches of seaweed. That the white whelk itself is not immune from enemies was recently brought before our notice, one being picked up with a long black worm dangling from its mouth. On withdrawing the worm--somewhat resembling a boot lace--portions of the deceased tenant followed. Doubtless every organism has its own particular parasite. “Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em, And these again have lesser fleas and so _ad infinitum_.” _MARCH 1903._ Traditionally correct, the advent of this month was decidedly leonine, and its exit as certainly lamb-like; but between these periods, though a few really beautiful days could be credited to the latter symbol of peacefulness, the lion was largely in the ascendant. Borne on the off-shore wind comes the odour of heather--not the fragrant perfume one usually associates with this sweet-smelling plant, but the smoky incense consequent on moor-burning--and at night the higher levels of the coast line exhibit lights which are certainly not recognised in the Mariners’ Sailing Directions.