228 



THE OPAL SEA 



Share birds. 



Tnrn- 



S/o/ti'S 



s I nd 

 pipers. 



arui 



cries and apparent comments to be understood 

 only by tbe crane family. 



"With the larger waders that flock by the sea 

 and live upon the spawn of the waters are 

 countless small birds with slim legs that trip 

 along the beaches, running here and there over 

 the wet sand, gathering what the last wave 

 has brought in. They are usually called 

 " snipe " by the unscientific, and " shore birds " 

 by the inclusive; and true enough there are 

 snipe among them. The stilts, the yellow-legs, 

 and the willets might come into that category, 

 but hardly the plovers and the curlews. But 

 they are all more or less native to the shore and 

 feed upon its lesser shell fish and worms. This 

 is true of the still smaller birds, the turnstones 

 that get their name from turning over stones 

 in search of minute life, and the many varieties 

 of sand pipers. The latter travel in flocks of 

 from ten to twenty and spend their days scam- 

 pering along the beaches. They are very alert, 

 very energetic, very graceful; and their little 

 thin legs move so fast at times that, like the 

 spokes of a fast-traveling wheel, they cannot 

 be seen. Ever the large eye and the large bill 

 are seeking food. That seems the constant 

 quest of all life in or by the sea. 



Sometimes a small flock of these sand pipers, 



