The IVater-fowl of the Pacific Coast 557 

 III 



THE WADERS AND SHORE-BIRDS 



The great family of birds that love the wet, 

 salt shore has a wonderful representation on the 

 Pacific Coast, but on account of the abundance 

 of ducks and quail in midwinter they have not 

 been appreciated, as they long have been on the 

 Atlantic Coast. The tenderfoot and the farmer's 

 boy have reduced their numbers in some places, 

 but the host is still large enough to afford infinite 

 shooting for those who know how to take it. 

 Every shore of every bay and inlet used to be 

 dotted all winter with waders, so that a bag of a 

 hundred or more was easy on the ebb of any 

 tide. Enough yet remain to amuse any one who 

 cares little about the size of the bag. Near the 

 shore little brown plover trotted over the green- 

 ing plains after the first rains of winter, with 

 many a curlew keeping him company, and they 

 often wandered miles back upon the slopes. 

 Where the ground was damp enough for worms, 

 Wilson's snipe, with all his charming manners, was 

 quite sure to be found. He has developed his 

 erratic ways and risen to the emergency created 

 by new guns and powders until he is now about 

 the most elusive little thing on earth. You can 



