2( STORIES OF BIRD LIFE 



do that too, the little ones told themselves. At times the 

 family would cross to the other side of the sand banks 

 and feed along the quiet water's edge of the sound. 



Their mother taught them that when the wind blew 

 strong they must stand or move with their faces toward 

 it. No self-respecting plover would ever attempt to take 

 wing in any other direction than against the wind, for if 

 one tried to rise with the wind, its feathers would be 

 blown about in a dreadful manner and it would find 

 much difficulty in starting off. When severe storms came, 

 the plover family would run up the beach to the dunes and 

 sit in the shelter of the sand hills, listening to the rustle 

 of the waving sea oats, and watch the waves throw up their 

 white hands as if the shock hurt them when they struck 

 the shore. 



"Always sit still when danger is near/' mother plover 

 had often told the little ones. The color of their down was 

 such that if they remained motionless it was quite hard to 

 distinguish them from the ground on which they lay. 

 Many other young birds besides plovers have learned this 

 lesson, and by acting on it have sometimes saved their 

 lives. 



Bib-neck often watched the gulls flying about over the 

 ocean, chasing each other, and now and then sweeping 

 down to pick up objects from the waves. One day a large 



