BIRDS OF PEASEMARSH 



where the sand on the beach is packed hard 

 and one can motor for miles along the water's 

 edge, flocks of Sandpipers will sometimes fly 

 just ahead of the car, stopping to look for food 

 now and then when they get a little way ahead, 

 but taking to wing again directly the car over- 

 takes them, as if they enjoyed the race and 

 gloried in the fact that they were always ahead. 

 Well it is for the Sandpipers that they can 

 fly in safety so close to man. They have more 

 unfortunate cousins that would not dare to do 

 so, lest they should not be left alive to win the 

 race. The Curlews and the Woodcock are 

 these relatives, unfortunate and always in 

 danger because they are game birds. The sad 

 story of the Esquimau Curlew that nested in the 

 barren lands of the north, and for its winters 

 flew many thousands of miles to the south, is 

 mentioned in a succeeding chapter. Men lost 

 sight of the fact that the living bird was valu- 

 able as an insect destroyer, and shot them for 

 the market in coast towns when they brought 

 but a few cents each. As grasshopper destroy- 

 ers alone the Curlews were of much economic 

 value to man; passing, as they did, in large 

 flocks over so great an extent of territory, they 

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