Barf ram's Sandpiper — Upland Plover 325 



lessness in the matter of allowing a man to ap- 

 proach them. 



It is a very active bird, running smoothly and 

 rapidly when in the humor and flying with 

 dovelike speed. Like its distant relative, the 

 small, spotted sandpiper, it will not hesitate 

 to alight upon a fence, pile of boards, or out- 

 building. The nest is merely a slight depres- 

 sion in the ground, roughly lined with a few 

 blades of grass. The four eggs are very large, 

 the ground color grayish buff, with spots of 

 dark brown and grayish brown. They are 

 hatched in June, and shortly after the young 

 are seen running totteringly over the grass. 

 They make a feeble attempt at hiding, but are 

 practically helpless and altogether comical-look- 

 ing spindle-shanked affairs. The mother is a 

 most devoted parent, keeping up a shrill appeal, 

 simulating lameness, and even plunging in a 

 threatening manner about one's head. When the 

 birds have mated in numbers, the outcry of one 

 starts all the rest to scolding, and the din they 

 raise can be heard afar. The food of this species 

 is chiefly insectivorous. Vast numbers of grass- 

 hoppers and crickets are consumed, and also berries 

 of various sorts. Toward the end of the summer it 

 leaves the grass and takes to the cultivated lands 

 for a period. Before the end of September most 

 of the small flocks unite and move southward. 



