THE FAMILY OF WADERS. 273 



and mottled, the lower part white, so that when 

 flying, he looks like a black-and-white bird. 



The common sandpiper, summer snipe, or fiddler, 

 as the country-people call him, because he is con- 

 tinually moving up and down, can be generally seen 

 in the proper season by those who know where to 

 look for him ; for the bird frequents trout-streams, 

 the rills that run through water-meadows, and the 

 margins of ponds ; in fact, any place that will keep 

 a minnow or stickleback in good health suits the 

 merry little fiddler. He runs and flits in all direc- 

 tions, now and again sounding his cheerful pipe. 

 This species you can watch for any reasonable time, 

 if you do not alarm the elegant little fellow. He 

 likes a nice strip of sand on the edge of a gudgeon- 

 stream, fringed by old pollard-willows, which when 

 the sun is shining brightly, throw innumerable 

 pointed shadows in the pure sand, if the wind 

 moves their leaves ever so lightly. A spot like 

 this, only one out of the many to be found, is the 

 place to see the little wader to the very best ad- 

 vantage, for one of the old willow-trunks will easily 

 conceal you. If you choose, you can get inside 

 of one of them, so decayed are they. There he 



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