CHAPTER I 



Beach Birds 



WHEN the beaches begin to warm under 

 the Spring sun, and the fresh green of the 

 new grass changes the salt marshes, the 

 beach birds sweep northward along our coasts. 

 There are over 60 species of shore birds found in 

 North America, and among them are some of our 

 most highly prized game birds. The flights that 

 some of these delicate looking birds make are remark- 

 able. Some of them make the round trip from South 

 America to the Arctic in the course of a year. The 

 snipe arrives in our Northern States between the 

 middle of April and the early part of May, on their 

 way to the North, where they breed; and return in 

 the latter part of August, or the beginning of Sep- 

 tember, making only a short stay. All the birds of 

 this genus seem to go North to breed, and to return 



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