Bartram's Sandpiper — Upland Plover 323 



A non-sporting critic, too, might question the 

 propriety of including a bird of the name in 

 this volume, but those familiar with the species 

 will readily understand why it is given place 

 among its present company. We are accus- 

 tomed to connect barelegged birds of this type 

 with wading, or at least with trotting the beaches 

 and the margins of streams and ponds; but the 

 present species, except during the nesting sea- 

 son, evinces no great love for water, or even 

 marshy localities. Naturally a haunter of plains 

 and uplands, it is seldom seen within a gun- 

 shot of water; in fact, from its habits, one 

 naturally would classify it with the plovers, 

 rather than the sandpipers. Among its common 

 names are "gray" and "grass plover"; in the 

 West, "prairie-pigeon," and, among the Creoles 

 of Louisiana, "papabotte." On the principle 

 that "A rose by any other name will smell as 

 sweet," this sandpiper, by any other name (and it 

 is a much-named bird), is just as good to eat. 

 Any one who has tasted a bird in prime condition 

 knows why this species is eagerly pursued, for in 

 truth it is a dainty not to be overlooked. I have 

 even heard men of considerable epicurean taste 

 declare that they prefer it to the woodcock, which, 

 while perhaps going a bit too far, would suggest 

 that the dainty of the uplands is by no means to 

 be despised. 



