THE ''PEEPS" 153 



THE " PEEPS." 

 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 



(Ereunetes pusillus.) 



LEAST SANDPIPER. 



Actodromas minutilla.) 



WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER. 



(Actodromas fuscicollis.) 



What will become of the beginners in the 

 art of wing shooting when the little ''Sand- 

 peep's" gentle "peet-weet" is no more to be 

 heard along the muddy banks of our marshes 

 and tide-waters? This is a grave question for 

 coming generations to solve, for the poor per- 

 secuted little "peep" furnishes the object les- 

 son in the very first school — ^the kindergarten, 

 as it were — of the shotgun crank's education. 



Gentle, confiding and unsuspicious in their 

 nature, their trustful simplicity is the cause of 

 great loss of life among their close-flying flocks. 

 The small boy with his ancient musket has 

 wrought great havoc in their ranks, and even 

 the older gunner sometimes takes a post-gradu- 



