239 



MY SANDPIPER FRIENDS. 



We were destined to become friends. For years^ as long 

 ago as I can remember, these Spotted Sandpipers, or some 

 of their ancestors, had frequented the shores of a tiny pond 

 and had, each year, built their nests in some of the border- 

 ing fields. Likewise, as far back as my memory takes me, 

 the fields surrounding this same little pond were included in 

 one of m_v favorite and most frequent rambles. Each year, 

 the first week in May, I h:ive welcomed mj' sandpiper 



Fig. 202. RETURNING TO HER NEST. 



