Two Sandpipers 207 



bayberry leaves. The four pear-shaped eggs look very dark a drab 

 background, heavily mottled with brown or black. Madam soon returns 

 with her husband, and Iwtli trot around near by, piping their complaints 

 at our intrusion. On one memorable occasion, by setting my camera 

 focused on the nest, I obtained a picture of the brooding mother. 



The chicks are the daintiest little mites that one can imagine little 

 brown balls mottled with white, and comical enough they are, perched 

 up on the rather long, slender stems that pass for legs. Frequently 

 they are hatched in the wet pasture-land close to the cottages of the fish- 

 ing settlements. While walking along the road and approaching the 

 house where we were stopping. I saw a pair of these Sandpipers acting 

 as if very anxious, alighting on the posts and top wire of the fence, 

 piping their complaints. Well did I know what was 



if 1.11 T r j , r A Sandpiper 



up, and after a considerable hunt I found the four Nursery 



chicks lying close together, flat on the ground. The 

 little Sandpiper might not be averse to civilization, if unmolested; but 

 what chance does such a brood have near houses against prowling cats ! 



The nesting season of these Sandpipers and, for that matter, of all 

 the shore-birds is very brief. Such small species do not take long to 

 mature. Thus surprisingly early in the summer, often soon after the 

 middle of July, they begin to straggle back to us, as if the arctic wilder- 

 ness were too cold and lonely to interest them longer. 



As far as I am familiar with the shore-birds the adults precede the 

 young on the southward migration, leaving their guileless broods to 

 follow as best they may. In species where differences of plumage be- 

 tween old and young are conspicuous, this is very noticeable. The adults 

 of the Ringneck or Semipalmated Plover, for instance, pass us in Xew 

 Hn^land mostly in August, and seldom do we see the pale-banded young- 

 sters before September. The Golden and Black-bellied Plovers have a 

 similar practice. But how do these unsophisticated young of the Sand- 

 pipers find their way to their unknown habitat in the far South? ' Who. 

 indeed, can really tell ! 



These two tiny species flock more or less together as well as in 

 company with other shore-birds and it is not easy to tell them apart. 

 The Least lacks the partial webbing between the toes, but this can hardly 

 be observed at any distance. It is a trifle smaller than the Semipalmated. 

 and has a reddish-brown tint in its plumage, while 

 the other tends rather to gray ; also it is perhaps more Characteristics 

 fond of marsh and meadow than the Semipalmated, 

 which favors beaches and flats. Both, however, are often found on the 

 marsh, so this sign is by no means of general appjication. 



Tt is a wonderfully pretty sight to watch them scwrying away from 

 the advancing waves on the grand, gray sea-beach, or paddling nimbly 

 about on the flats or in shallow pools of the marsh. How they can 

 make their little legs go! As we walk along, we may not notice the 

 binl->. they aiv so small. Suddenly ari^i-< a -.brill twittering or lisping, 

 and up darts the scattered parly of Sandpipers. Quickly they get to- 



