2IO 



Bird - Lore 



A Bird in the Hand 



Is a bird in the bush worth two in the hand? 

 Before I answer this question let me tell you 

 of my experience with the Least Sandpiper. 



This little bird, about as big in the body 

 as an English Sparrow, is much like the 

 Spotted Sandpiper in general outline and 

 actions, minus the tipping, at least so it 

 appeared to an average business man bird- 

 lover. They are to be found nesting along the 

 St. Lawrence River below Montreal and in 



with young just hatched is beyond de- 

 scribing, and the photograph must tell the 

 story. 



The mother (I suspect) was the braver of 

 the pair. When I placed the downy young 

 in my palm she fearlessly came to them. The 

 touch of one parent's breast on my middle 

 finger with the other old bird beside her was 

 so thrilling that I shall not spoiL the experi- 

 ence by attempting to describe it. Now I am 

 ready to answer my opening question. In 

 this case, at least, I must claim that a bird 



f •-'-■ — '"~ , T7! 



: j. __ ' 



BIRDS IN THE HAND 



the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The accompanying 

 photograph was made on the Magdalen 

 Island, June 20, 192 1, when I had gone as a 

 representative of the Province of Quebec 

 Society for Protection of Birds, in company 

 with Mr. Herbert K. Job. 



We were with the Least Sandpiper during 

 the nesting season and found them sweet, 

 confiding little birds, soon learning to trust 

 us near them and even brooding as we stood 

 right over their nest, a grass-lined hollow in 

 the swamp. 



The courting actions of these little birds 

 are interesting. They dance on the ground, 

 face each other, jump into the air, strut about 

 for hours at a time. The action of the parents 



in the hand is worth two or two hundred 

 times two in the bush. — Wallace H. Robb, 

 (P. Q. S. P. B.) Portland, Maine. 



A Chimney Swift Invasion 



About May 20, 1922, the New York 

 papers published extended accounts of the 

 entrance of Chimney 'Swallows' into the 

 home of Mr. Rice of Kingston, N. Y. Their 

 accounts seemed so circumstantial that at 

 our request Mr. Julian Burroughs inter- 

 viewed Mr. Rice and obtained from him the 

 following statements in regard to this un- 

 usual occurrence. Evidently one or more 

 flocks of migrating Swifts selected the chirn- 



