THE COMMON SANDPIPER 



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bank, and looked down those meadows, I thought of them, as 

 Charles the Emperor did of the city of Florence, ' that they 

 were too pleasant to be looked on, but only on holidays,' as 

 I then sat on this very grass I turned my present thoughts 

 into verse, 'twas a wish, which I'll repeat to you : — 



I in these flowery meads would be : 

 These crystal streams should solace me ; 

 To whose harmonious bubbling noise 

 I with my angle would rejoice." 



The " Sandy Laverock's " nest is looked upon by the 

 boys of the county as " rare," being somewhat difficult to 

 find. It is often placed amongst the herbage not far from 

 the margin of the water, in a slight hollow scraped out by 

 the bird and lined with a little dry grass. The eggs, which 

 are four in number, are reddish-white, spotted with brown. 





