GAME-BIRDS ? 21. 
“Or, again, others slightly larger, with ash and brown 
backs, and underparts spotted with round, black marks 
like a thrush, white spotted wings, and the outer tail- 
feathers white barred, showing in flight ? 
“These two gracious, confiding little birds are the Least 
and the Spotted Sandpiper. Their small size should 
keep them off the food list, for what are their dead bodies 
but asingle mouthful? And what are they alive? Things 
of joy and mystery combined. For what is a more per- 
fect picture of grace and happiness than these birds with 
a background of sand, seaweed, and shells, and all the 
sparkling water before? 
“Of a gray day, their pleasant prattle is shut down 
by the fog, and sounds strange and mysterious, and when 
they spread their pointed wings, and vanish into the mist, 
that seems to pick them up as it rolls in, the picture is 
complete. 
“The Least Sandpiper, the smallest of his tribe, is 
found in greater numbers on our beach than the Spotted. 
He comes to us in the migrations, as he nests only in the 
far North. I can remember, when as a girl I was fond 
of swiming in the bay until late in autumn, that a flock 
of these little birds flew over me so close that I could feel 
the beating of their wings. His use is to give interest to the 
landscape, and his plea for life his harmless littleness, his 
confidence, and his obedience in filling the place in nature 
which the great Plan has given him. Perhaps you may 
have heard the poem that he inspired in the heart of one 
woman, who lived on a sea-girt island, and, oftentimes, 
had only the birds for company; even if you have heard 
it, the verses are among those of which we never tire. 
