of their food is obtained by picking it 

 from the surface upon which it rests, but 

 they will probe in the marshy soil and 

 wet sand with their awl-like bills, in a 

 manner similar to' that of the snipe, for 

 hidden worms and larvae. 



Few if any birds are more unsuspect- 

 ing than the Least Sandpipers when they 

 are in flocks consisting only of their own 

 species. They then exhibit confidence in 

 man, who is their worst enemy, often 

 seeking their food almost at his feet. 

 However, if the observer alarms the birds, 

 they quickly take wing, and "like a flash 

 with a startled peep, peep, and in a com- 

 pact form, swiftly sweep about in an un- 

 certain manner, canting from side to side, 

 showing rapidly the white beneath and 

 the dark above, a wavy, pretty sight, the 



white at times fairly glistening in the sun- 

 light." It is too bad that these harmless 

 and attractive birds should be slaugh- 

 tered by the sportsmen. Their small 

 bodies at most furnish but little more 

 than a mouthful of food. They are par- 

 ticularly the prey of the pot hunters. As 

 a rule, when a flock is flushed by the dis- 

 charge of a gun, which may have killed 

 quite a number of the birds, they rise, 

 circle in an erratic manner and return to 

 the locality which they have just left. 

 Thus they again expose themselves to the 

 aim of the unsympathetic hunter. "Inno- 

 cent of evil, confiding, sociable, lively lit- 

 tle peepers, neither their faith in us nor 

 their pathetic smallness protects them 

 from the pot hunters. True sportsmen 

 scorn to touch them." 



THE EAGLE, THE OWL AND THE LITTLE BROWN 



CHEAT. 



MODERNIZED FROM GRIMM'S TALES. 



Ages and ages ago when kings and 

 queens were scurrying to and fro 

 building their thrones, and thrones who 

 had no ruler to sit on them were look- 

 ing this way and that for a person who'd 

 fit, two little, dull-coated birds sat under 

 a linden tree chatting together. 



"Well, it does seem you're right, we 

 should have a King, but, bless me, who 

 is there would do? There's Mrs. Wren 

 with a nest running over with young 

 ones ; she needs all the time and atten- 

 tion her help-mate can possibly give. 

 Then there are the Orioles, but they 

 think that their home is a throne in it- 

 self as it is." "Oh, we couldn't just 

 pick out a King. We'd have to compete, 

 and whoever should win would be 

 crowned." "You always were wise. 

 Shall we get at the matter at once and 

 decide what to do?" 



That's why for days old Bob White 

 could be heard far and near singing 

 "Choose a King!" "Choose a King!" un- 

 til all the birds got together and planned 

 for a test, and here's what they planned : 



One morning as soon as the sun was 

 up high in the sky they all were to meet 

 in the churchyard just across from a 

 house where two caged canary birds 

 hung on the porch. The canaries were 

 judges, and when their sweet "ready" 

 was trilled the birds were to start; who- 

 ever flew highest would win and be 

 King. Up, up, up they flew, higher and 

 higher, some of them looking like specks 

 against the blue sky. Now and then 

 this bird or that one came back, other 

 birds just skimmed along when they 

 found they were tired, but all watched 

 eagerly the one big bird in the lead ; up, 

 up, up higher and higher he went with 

 each graceful swoop of his big out- 

 stretched wings. Not a bird was there 

 near him ; he paused and looked back ; 

 thousands of sweet notes of greeting 

 came to him from the birds left behind, 

 when — what was that soaring above 

 him? — where had that tiny black speck- 

 in the sky been before their King 

 stopped? Some one had seen. Nestled 

 close on the top of the Eagle's big wing, 



156 



