THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER. 



HIS pretty shore bird, known 

 as Bartram's Tattler, is found 

 (ji in more or less abundance all 



~^ over the United States, but is 

 rarely seen west of the Rocky Moun- 

 xtains. It usually breeds from the 

 middle districts — Ohio, Indiana, 

 Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and the 

 Dakotas northward, into the fur 

 country, and in Alaska. It is very 

 numerous in the prairies of the interior, 

 and is also common eastward. It has 

 a variety of names, being called 

 Field Plover, Upland Plover, Grass 

 Plover, Prairie Pigeon, and Prairie 

 Snipe. It is one of the most familiar 

 birds on the dry, open prairies of 

 Manitoba, where it is known as the 

 " Quaily," from its soft, mellow note. 

 The bird is less aquatic than most of 

 the other Sandpipers, of which there 



are about twenty-five species, and is 

 seldom seen along the banks of streams, 

 its favorite resorts being old pastures, 

 upland, stubble fields, and meadows, 

 where its nest may be found in a 

 rather deep depression in the ground, 

 with a few grass blades for lining. 

 The eggs are of a pale clay or buff, 

 thickly spotted with umber and 

 yellowish-brown ; usually four in 

 number. 



The Sandpiper frequently alights on 

 trees or fences, like the Meadow Lark. 

 This species is far more abundant on 

 the plains of the Missouri river region 

 than in any other section of our 

 country. It is foimd on the high dry 

 plains anywhere, and when fat, as it 

 generally is, from the abundance of its 

 favorite food, the grasshopper, is one of 

 the most delicious imaginable. 



Marshall Saunders tells us that 

 in Scotland seven thousand children 

 were carefully trained in kindness to 

 each other and to dumb animals. 



It is claimed that not one of these 

 in after years was ever tried for any 

 criminal offense in any court. How 

 does that argue for humane education ? 

 Is not this heart training of our boys 

 and girls one which ought to claim 

 the deepest sympathy and most ready 

 support from us when we think of 

 what it means to our future civilization? 

 " A brutalized child," says this great- 



hearted woman, " is a lost child." 

 And surely in permitting any act of 

 cruelty on the part of our children, 

 we brutalize them, and as teachers and 

 parents are responsible for the result 

 of our neglect in failing to teach them 

 the golden rule of kindness to all of 

 God's creatures. It is said that out of 

 two thousand criminals examined 

 recently in American prisons, only 

 twelve admitted that they had been 

 kind to animals during youth. What 

 strength does that fact contain as an 

 aro-ument for humane education ? 



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