IOWA ORNITHOLOGIST. 



19 



dent or bird or snake or lizard, 

 insects or worms, that will make 

 him a benefit to man and I fear 

 he will not be considered a bird 

 that should be protected by law. 



Dick. 



E. B. WEBSTER. 



p^ICK was a plover, a pet plover, 

 sprightly as a fairy and tame 

 as a kitten. 'Twas the last of 

 July, some ten years ago, that 

 some sharp-eyed boys spied him 

 as he was running about in the 

 meadow searching for his even- 

 ing meal of fat, juicy worms and 

 dainty bugs. Trusting more in 

 nature's gift of concealment than 

 in his strong wings, he was 

 easily captured and ere long I 

 made his acquaintance. 



I have had — we nature-loving 

 people have all had — many pets, 

 eagles, • hawks, owls, herons, 

 crows, and numerous smaller 

 birds, as well as a fair variety of 

 mammals, but never had I heard 

 of a tame plover. That a bird 

 so timid, so extremely wary as 

 the plover we hunt in the fall, 

 could become the tamest of pets, 

 seems incredible. And yet in a 

 week he would come at call and 

 eat from my hand. 



I took him home, and spread- 

 ing some paper in a dark corner 



under a bed, introduced him to 

 his new quarters. Here he spent 

 most of his time, usually stand- 

 ing in a shallow dish of water. 

 But when all was quiet, out he 

 cautiously came, running a few 

 steps at a time, then stopping, to 

 listen, when at the slightest sound 

 or movement he would scurry 

 back under the bed. If all con- 

 tinued still, he explored the walls 

 and corners, catching many a fly 

 and stray spider. His feet 

 moved so swiftly, he seemed to 

 glide rather than to run, and al- 

 most quicker than the eye could 

 follow he would be at the other 

 side of the room where he had de- 

 tected a fly on or near the floor. 



We fed him some insects, but 

 mostly earth worms, nice long 

 fat ones, a handful at a time. 

 Step in at the front door, call 

 "Dick! Dick !" and in a trice 

 he had run through the inter- 

 vening rooms and was right at 

 hand. Always hungry, he would 

 eat until his crop was a wriggling 

 round ball and, likely as not, the 

 last worm would only go half way 

 down, even " as, with extended 

 neck, he put forth his utmost 

 efforts to swallow it. In fifteen 

 minutes at the most he would be 

 ready for another meal. 



The most peculiar thing I ob- 

 served about his habits was that 



