206 BIRD-LAND ECHOES. 



I squatted on the sand, and my old gray suit that 

 years ago lost all semblance to newness well dis- 

 guised me. I did not move a muscle. To the birds 

 I was no more than a stump or a bunch of grass. 

 They settled within a few feet of me, and, standing 

 still, looked intently at the river. Were they think- 

 ing that it was time to migrate? The birds were 

 sanderlings. 



I have been surprised to find how far inland the 

 little sand-pipers or " peeps" come at times, both in 

 spring and autumn, though they are recorded by 

 Warren as found about ponds and small streams in 

 all parts of Pennsylvania. I have always associated 

 them with the main watercourses and the sea-shore, 

 and particularly, in my own neighborhood, with the 

 Delaware River's immediate shores, and was, till 

 lately, under the impression that they were not due 

 until August. In April, 1892, I journeyed in a 

 wagon into Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and, al- 

 though there was but the vaguest promise of spring- 

 like weather, was rash enough to sleep on the 

 ground in a tent. The ostensible purpose was ar- 

 chaeology, which, however, I let my companion look 

 after. I was interested in the ornithological features 

 of the season, and although for some purposes a 

 month too late, I was convinced that we have in 

 these hills a country more visited by northern birds, 

 in winter, than is generally believed. But the sand- 

 pipers ! I was up rather early on the morning of 

 the 23d, and going to the brook near camp, a 

 stream some ten feet wide, rapid and shallow, I 



