220 UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



Just what the little kill-deers were feeding upon I 

 cannot say, but I found that, like woodcocks, they buried 

 their bills deeply in the sand, and left rows of holes 

 over its surface, often as regular in appearance as those 

 encircling an apple-tree, and made by tlie little wood- 

 pecker. I suppose it will be claimed that I should have 

 shot one of these birds to learn the character of its food. 

 This I always intend to do, but defer until the next time ; 

 hoping in the meanwhile to find out by other means. 

 And I did get a clue to the matter. A mass of the wet 

 sand was allowed to trickle through my fingers, and I 

 fonnd mollusks, crustaceans, and undetermined small 

 fry in it, all of which would be acceptable to the plover's 

 palate. 



This plover is comparatively rare now, and is a creek- 

 side and river-shore bird ; yet, half a century ago, these 

 birds appeared yearly, in abundance, as early as March, 

 and frequented the upland fields even more than the 

 meadows. They followed the ploughman at his work, 

 and, running along the newly turned furrow, gathered 

 up what insect larvae were exposed. Then, later, they 

 nested in these same fields, and their cheery kill-dee^ 

 TdUrdee, was a familiar and pleasant bird-note. Now 

 they are gone. How are the fields changed, that they 

 should visit them no more ? 



In a pebbly shallow, where the waters were nearly 

 at a standstill, I was delighted to find a pair of stone- 

 catfish, shovelling the pebbles with their broad, flat noses. 

 At times, a flat stone three or four inches square would 

 be found, and under this one or two would work their 



