BIRDS FOUND ALONG THE BEACHES 79 



as far north as Cape Mendocino. It is abundant at 

 Long Beach, San Pedro, and all along the sandy coast 

 near Los Angeles. These Plovers are pretty, plump 

 little birds, and trip unconcernedly at the water's edge, 

 picking up the food left by the retreating waves. If 

 one is disturbed, it crouches flat on the sand, in a hollow 

 if possible, trusting to protective coloring to escape 

 notice. A nest found near San Diego in April, con- 

 tained, when discovered, three clay-covered eggs. When 

 it was visited three hours later, two little ones had 

 broken the shell and were crouched down like small 

 gray stones. The third egg was sterile. The young 

 were about the size of large walnuts and were the 

 prettiest creatures imaginable. The next morning the 

 nest was deserted, only the particles of eggshells scat- 

 tered about told where it had been ; but the mother 

 bird was discovered with both chicks hiding behind a 

 tuft of grass. No other nest was found nearer than 

 two hundred feet, and it is doubtful wdiether the one 

 found at that distance was really the nest of a Snowy 

 Plover. 



This species has none of the dipping motions of the 

 sandpi])er, and is much plumper-looking, though not 

 less trim than the sandpipers. Its call is a whistled 

 " I)leep, pleep," somewhat between the note of a spotted 

 sandpiper and that of a golden plover. 



