382 CITIZEN BIRD 



larks sing all day long, the Marsh Wrens come along 

 to join in, the Snipe begin to call, the Spotted Sand- 

 pipers whistle up, and we get a visit from the Wild 

 Geese as they fly north. I tell you it is fine to be down 

 here then. But in fall I'd rather be up at the lake by 

 the lumber camp when the snow brings the foxes and 

 other wild animals out." 



" Do stop a minute, please, Olaf, and don't tell quite 

 so fast," pleaded Dodo. ^' Uncle Roy never does. 

 You have said the names of ever so many birds that 

 we don't know, and when he does that he always stops 

 and explains. Snipe and Spotted Sandpipers — please 

 begin with those." 



Olaf thought for a minute. He knew all the game 

 and water birds — in fact, they were intimate friends 

 of his ; but it was not so easy for him to describe them. 



" Did you ever see a Woodcock? " he began. 



" Yes, oh yes ! " cried Nat. "Uncle Roy showed us 

 a stuffed one in the wonder room, and told us all about 

 its long beak with a point like a finger to feel for its 

 food in the mud because its eyes are too far back to see 

 well in front, and all about its sky dance , and Rap 

 has seen one sitting on its nest in a spring snow- 

 storm." 



''Well, the Snipe that comes about here belongs to 

 the same family, and also pokes in the mud for its 

 food ; that is why it likes to live near fresh water like 

 the Woodcock, where the mud is soft, rather than on 

 the sea-shore, where the sand is gritty. It's a mighty 

 shy bird and doesn't tell any one what it means to do. 

 I've heard them come calling over the beach at night 

 sometimes tliough, and I suspect they go to the muddy 



