WITH THE WADERS 93 



field-glass brought him near enough to show 

 all the beauty of his spots. 



He was well worth looking at (" What 

 short work a gunner would make of him ! " 

 I kept repeating to myself), but I could not 

 stay. Titlark voices were in the air. The 

 birds must be plentiful on the grassy hills 

 beyond ; with them there might be Lapland 

 longspurs ; and I followed the road. This 

 presently brought me to a bit of pebbly 

 beach, along which I was carelessly walking 

 when a lisping sound caused me to glance 

 down at my feet. There on the edge of 

 the water was a bunch of seven sandpipers ; 

 white-rumps, as I soon made out, though 

 my first thought had been of something else. 

 One of them hobbled upon one leg, but the 

 others seemed thus far to have escaped in- 

 jury. There they stood, huddled together 

 as if on purpose for some pot-shooter's con- 

 venience, while I drew them within arm's 

 length ; pretty creatures, lovely in their fool- 

 ish innocence ; more or less nervous under 

 my inspection, but holding their ground, 

 each with its long black bill pointed against 

 the breeze. " We who are about to die 

 salute you," they might have been saying. 



