196 Union Bay 



That was all the information I could get, although I con- 

 sulted every index to which I had access. Simple as it may 

 appear, the subject is not disposed of so easily. Each of the 

 four men has expressed himself with one of the reservations 

 "can it be/' "I offer a theory," "It seems to me," "I think"— 

 the language used by the scientist who feels that he is or may 

 be on the right track but who wishes it distinctly understood 

 that the theory cannot yet be considered proved. 



The foregoing is a rough summary of what I have learned 

 about teeters, nods, and bobs. I know that it will not satisfy 

 you for it has not satisfied me. Nothing that I have observed 

 furnishes an adequate answer. What I have read has come 

 close to, but is not completely, an explanation. Every time 

 I see a spotted sandpiper throwing its weight about I think, 

 "There are a lot of people who would like to know just why 

 you do that." The last time I fished on Hyas Lake, a dipper 

 entered the boat, walked between me and my companion, 

 and calmly ate salmon eggs which had spilled on the bot- 

 tom. There was no excitement, no water to peer into, no 

 alarm over safety, but, nevertheless, the bobbing went on as 

 decisively as if the bird were nervous, the need for acute 

 vision imperative, and the area filled with hungry predators. 



