A Day's Sport with the Red-backs and Greater Yellow-legs 337 



^ 



moment, and then flew away, to alight farther up the beach, then, seeming to 

 gain confidence it began to work toward me. Never having been able to 

 photograph this wary bird, and expecting that it would fly away, I wasted 



several plates on long shots, but 

 it came steadily on and joined 

 the Red-backs scarcely a rod away 

 from me. Many times before had 

 I tried to photograph a Yellow- 

 legs but without success, and now 

 as it mingled with the Red-backs 

 I had my chance. It was not a 

 question of getting near enough, 

 but rather of catching a good 

 pose and of getting one bird out 

 alone or all of them in the same 

 plane so they would all be in good 

 focus. Always active, with little 

 jerky moves, the Red-backs went 

 about probing in the soft mud or 

 wading out in the shallow water and sometimes swimming a little. The Yel- 

 low-legs was more deliberate but always moved with infinite grace. One of 

 the most graceful moves of a bird is the stretching of the wings by a Yellow- 

 legs or Solitary Sandpiper, and some day I hope to catch it on a photographic 



MARSH HAWK PURSUED BY RED-WINGED 

 BLACKBIRD 



GREATER YELLOW-LEGS "MAKING RINGS OF RIPPLES IN THE QUIET WATER' 



