SANDPIPERS, QUAIL, AND) KILDEER 
Only a few feet of beach lay between her 
and her daily supply of food, and that was 
perhaps the reason why the father bird was 
not present during incubation. As soon, 
however, as the little ones were hatched, he 
assumed his share of parental duties and 
stood guard about ten feet away. The day 
they left the shells they stayed in the nest, 
or at least near it, and that night we found 
them cuddled with their mother in a hollow 
a foot away. Only three of the eggs 
hatched, and I fancy some enemy was close 
at hand, for I never saw more than two of 
the bantlings. The next morning they had 
gone over to the meadow, and only by long 
search were we able to catch them for their 
pictures. As luck would have it, the sun 
hid behind dull gray clouds all day, and we 
were finally obliged to content ourselves 
with very unsatisfactory results. 
It was amusing to watch the small sand- 
pipers as they teetered down to the edge of 
the water with a funny little bobbing motion, 
in exact imitation of their elders, their long 
Io 145 
