Sandpiper, Spotted 



speed along close to the water. When standing on the 

 ground they have a ludicrous trick of ducking the head 

 and jerking the body, the purpose of which is quite unac- 

 countable, a habit that has given them the expressive, 

 if not elegant, sobriquet of " teetertail, " or "tip-up." 



PARKHURST. The Birds' Calendar. 31 



The birds of this species have been so wantonly and 

 mercilessly hunted by gunners of all ages, that they have 

 become extremely shy, and have lost all confidence in 

 man. Yet if they were harbored, and protected from 

 annoyance and danger, they would grow tame and confiding, 

 and our fields and gardens would be full of them. A brood 

 of them . . . would be indefatigable hunters of insects 

 in pastures and tilled lands. . . . These little birds 

 are incapable of doing any mischief, even if there were 

 fifty of them on every farm. They take no fruit; they 

 do not bite off the tops of tender herbs, like poultry; and 

 they are interesting in their ways. 



FLAGG. A Year With the Birds. 25 

 CALL-NOTE : 



A sharp " weet-weet weet-weet. " CHAPMAN. 

 "Wet-feetwet-feet." VAN DYKE. 



The Sandpiper 



Across the narrow beach we flit, 



One little sandpiper and I; 

 And fast I gather, bit by bit, 



The scattered driftwood, bleached and dry. 



128 



