Birds of Oregon and Washington 205 



"Across the narrow beach we flit, 



One little sandpiper and I, 

 And fast I gather, bit by bit, 



The scattered driftwood bleached and dry. 

 The wild w r aves reach their hands for it, 



The wild wind raves, the tide runs high, 

 As up and down the beach we flit, 



One little sandpiper and I. 



I watch him as he skims along, 



Uttering his sw r eet and mournful cry. 

 He starts not at my fitful song, 



Or flash of fluttering drapery. 

 He has no thought of any wrong; 



He scans me with a fearless eye. 

 Staunch friends are* we, well tried and strong, 



The little sandpiper and I." 



PARTICULAR DESCRIPTION. Top of head and back, 

 rusty-yellowish, " broadly streaked with black " ; wings ? 

 grayish to dark brown, edges, paler to buff ; wings and 

 upper tail-coverts, brownish-black, edges, pale ; sides of 

 head, lores, neck, and breast, ashy-buff, streaked with 

 brown ; under parts, as in general description. 



THE WESTERN SANDPIPER. 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION : 



Upper parts : black and rusty, or chestnut. 

 Under parts : white. 

 Length, 5.25 inches. 



Found in May, August, and September, on our shores 

 and marshes. Nests about the mouth of the Yukon 

 River and elsewhere. 



