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BIRDS OF AMERICA 



To the lover of unspoiled Nature our jjrand 

 open sea beaches would not seem like the real 

 thing were it not possible at times to see flocks 

 of innocent little Sandpipers running gracefully 

 along the margin, chased by the advancing waves. 

 The tiniest atom of its tribe, the Least Sand- 

 piper, accompanied by several other kinds, is 

 still with us. and is perhaps increasing, thanks to 

 the outlawry of shooting them under the Federal 



It was my good fortune to be able to studv its 

 nesting habits when I found it breeding on the 

 Magdalen Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence. Pic- 

 ture there, on these islands, broad expanses of 

 meadowy country, carpeted with short grass and 

 moss, interspersed with patches of low spruce 

 and juniper, and dotted with small shallow 

 ponds. Here, in early June, we may listen to a 

 sweet, twittering little song, and spy the author. 





Drawing by R. I. Brasher 



LEAST SANDPIPER (; nat. size) 

 The baby among shore birds 



Law. It will be a sorry day when we need such 

 tiny things for food, each one affording but a 

 mere taste. 



This species and the Semipalmated Sandpiper 

 consort together and resemble each other so 

 closely that it is hard at a distance to tell them 

 apart. There is a slight distinction in hal)it, in 

 that the Least Sandpiper is more apt to be found 

 on marshes, while the other prefers the beach, 

 though there is no certain distinguishing of them 

 in this way. As things go, thev are com])aratively 

 common in May and again in August and the 

 first part of September cjuite generally o\er the 

 country, wherever there are any considerable 

 bodies of water, particularly on both our sea- 

 coasts, also in the Mississippi valley, and on the 

 shallow prairie sloughs of the Northwest. 



\\'hereas most of the larger shore birds cross 

 to the interior of the ccjntinent to breed, the 

 Sandpipers as a class seem not to avoid the north- 

 ern Atlantic coast in the spring flight and in the 

 nesting season. This is true of the Least Sand- 

 piper. Though it breeds in the far Northwest, 

 it also does so on our eastern coasts, well to the 

 north. 



nnt a \\arl)ler but our little Sandpiper, the male 

 bird, circling al)Out on qui\ering wings, singing 

 to his little mate \\ho loiters on the edge of a 



Photo by H. K. Job Courtesy of HougViton MifBin Co. 



AN ANXIOUS MOTHER 

 Least Sandpiper watching the photographer near her babies 



One day, a June 13. a tiny bii'd lluttered almost 

 from beneath the feet of my companion, and 



