The Music of the Marsh 



of gravest importance, is a loud, mournful wail, 

 resembling the sobbing of a November wind 

 among the pines. Like the killdeer's note, it is The 

 so tinged with parental concern that, being heard 

 by hunting parties coming in at night, it causes 

 an involuntary shudder. When disturbed in 

 brooding, the female screams lustily, much like a 

 half dozen other marsh birds; and her mate an- 

 swers from afar with a strident insistence that 

 might be interpreted as an effort to encourage her 

 to remain on her nest. He thrashes among the 

 grass and rushes, and makes a big demonstration, 

 but it ends at that, for he keeps his distance. 



When brooding is over and flocks of plover 

 are caring for and pleasuring with their young, 

 they have a grand concert that is delightful and 

 alluring. They congregate around the mouth of 

 some small creek that empties into the marsh, skim- 

 ming low over the water and hunting food close 

 the roots of the marsh weeds and flowers. This 

 is real plover music. Then the peeping and cheep- 

 ing of the young and the chatter and chirp of the 

 old ones resemble in volume the vocalizing of 

 ducks. Their notes grow clearer and sweeter, more 

 nearly like those of a songbird. 



The} 7 are small, plump-breasted, friendly 



bodies, that in dry weather go tilting over rotten 



logs, and with sharp, dainty bills probe the moss 



for worms. Four in a row they line up and watch 



365 



