OUR HOLIDAY IN WILD WALES. 81 



go, and presently flew to a rock a yard from my feet, 

 seemingly in the utmost distress. I could stand it no 

 longer. Throwing down my rod, I called David to 

 come and search for the nest; we heard a wee cry 

 from the young ones, but although.it seemed to come 

 from the ground at our feet, we could not find the 

 nest, so gave it up. But the bird was not happy, nor 

 was I, for I felt I was doing a cruel thing in keeping 

 that woebegone little mother from her chicks. It was 

 quite pitiful the way she begged me to go away. I 

 looked about again, and I found that had I taken 

 another step backwards I should have hurried a wee 

 fluffy baby sandpiper out of the world ; then I found 

 two more, and last, out of a hole in the bank, came 

 forth another. I gathered them up gently and made 

 a nest on the beach with grass ; they closed their eyes 

 and looked so resigned and sad, as if they thought it 

 was all up with them, and my heart ached, for I felt 

 that I was the innocent cause of all this lamentation, 

 and mourning, and woe. But baby sandpipers are 

 dear little humbugs ; the instant I left the nest, and their 

 mother called them, those half dead and frightened 

 little pipers ran as fast as their legs would carry them 

 to the secure shelter of their mother's wings, which 

 she spread over them just as a hen does over her 

 chickens. Sandpipers nest on the ground, 1 they lay 

 four eggs, and as soon as the young birds can walk they 



1 The nest, if it was a nest, where we found these little 

 unfledged birds was just under a bit of overhanging turf, resting 

 on the ground, leaving a hollow space behind. The birds ran 

 in and out at both ends, but there was no appearance of lining 

 of any kind. 



G 



