24.1 



friends on their return from the sunny south, have listened 

 to their fife-like notes as they chased one another about, or 

 have watched them skimming across the pond with the i)eeu- 

 liar, tremulous flutter of the down-curved wings, character- 

 istic of sandpipers. 



By the end of May, they cease their play and settle down 

 to business. Having selected a suitable spot, the female 

 builds a nest, — not a very strenuous task, for she simply 

 squats in the gra.ss and turns around a few times, thus form- 

 ing a hollow of the correct shape. Sometimes she will wind 

 a few grasses around the hollow but often she does not do 

 even that much. 



One morning as I passed through a clearing in some 

 small pines near the ])ond, a bird fluttered from nearly 

 under my feet. A glance proved it to be a Spotted Sand- 

 piper and another glance showed nie that I had nearly trod 

 upon the four eggs upon which she had been sitting. She 

 tried her best to lead me away ; apparently she was very 

 severely wounded for she limped with one leg, both wings 

 dragged on the ground and, every few steps, she would fall 

 over as though exhausted. It was a very fine piece of act- 

 ing and would deceive anyone not accustomed to it (still 

 men who profess to be scientists say that birds and mam- 

 mals have no intelligence ; personally I believe that many 

 birds and many mammals have a higher degree of intelli 

 gence than some of those who claim everything is done by 

 instinct or imitation). 



Although I had found a great many nests of these birds, 

 I was glad to locate this because I had never made photo- 

 graphs of them and this nest offered an excellent opportun- 

 ity to do so. The eggs were handsomely marked, as is 

 usual with those of this species ; they had little to conceal 

 them from view, except their coloration, which harmonized 

 so well with the surroundings that, at ten feet distance it 

 was almost impossible to pick them out. 



16 



