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I'OI'L'LAR AND PRACTICAL IvXTc )A1(.)L()GV 



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UV l-'UA.NCIS j A. .MORRIS, 

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At the head of Corhctt's pond the spring;- after tlie water level was per- 

 nianentl\- lowered J spent several hours one Saturday obserx-in^' a inullitude of 

 ! Mover, v^uipe, an<i v^andpipers feeding- on the rieh alhu'ial surtaee. 'idle lirsi 

 thini;- 1 saw on approaehin^' was a tlock of seven or eii^ht I'.lack-hellied Plover 

 which 1 had \nn U]) in the forenoon from Duck JIarhour four miles away; 

 then two C.oldeii Plover, the onl\- time to my knowledi^e 1 have ever seen this 

 bird. P)Oth these ]<inds were ver\- wild and Hew rapidly out of sight up die 

 ( i.aneraska in a north-westerly direction. l'.}- good luck 1 happened on ,an 

 e-\cellent "diide", a hollow on the sloy)e of the bank a few \ar(ls I roni the wati'r, 

 screened from the cold north-west wind b)' the toj) of the bank and hidden Irom 

 view by a fringe of willow bushes, through wdiich 1 could watch the birds 

 feeding. Most of the time ni_\- glasses were trained across a narrow arm ol the 

 (■aneraska on to a delta of ])lack mud dotted with sand patches, little thickets 

 of dead sticks, and shallow pools of water. 'Jdie birds were. ver_\- numerous, 

 the different species moving about in small Rocks that often intermingled; 

 sometimes three or four species feeding sociably together in a single group; 

 for the most part they seemed strangely silent, but this was probalily due to 

 the distance and the pecidi.ar character of "tield-glass" views ; birds at quite :i 

 distance being lirought right up to the e\e, so that you felt almost as il you could 

 lay your spare liand on the bird bv a sudden pounce down behind the glasses. 

 Moreover I was to windward, rmd when the breeze clroijjied 1 lancied 1 could 

 hear f.aint twitterings. It was very interesting to see the ([uick nervous move- 

 ments of the birds, .almost as restless as vSnowbii'ds in a blizzard, but with 

 much less use of the wings; .all sliowed the curious "teetering" fore and alt, 

 that has given the Least v^and])iper its ])opukir name, accom])anii'd by tre(|uent 

 l)ol)i)ing of head and neck and flirting of tail ; but ])reltiest sight of all was 

 their (|uick, clean ste]* and daint\- tre.ad about the tiny s.audbars .and mud H.ats 

 that m.ade the shores of their Liliputian lakes. There wi're .at le.ast se\a'n 

 species, but 1 v.-.as .able to idi'nlif\- fn'c only with certainty: the Least v^audpiper. 

 the Solitary, the Spotted and the RecPbacked ; the Last of these remarkable 

 for the large disk of ji-t on its belly which gives it the local n.ame ot "black - 

 licart'' .among the gunners; ih.e most ex([uisile of all these "linn'col;e" or mud- 

 haunters was ,a tin\- white-llu-oated, white-breasied and -bi'llied bird, with a 

 black collar round the lU'ck, a dusk_\- head, .and gre\--brown b.ack .and wings; 

 it looked for .all the world like a dw.arf Killdeer, .and .as ;i tlock ol killdeer 

 came down from the lield Ijehind me and settled on the delt.a, I was able to 



