218 BIRDS 



concealed in folded wing, but conspicuous in flight. 

 Winter birds are duller and browner and without bars on 

 upper parts. 



Range — ^North America to Hudsons Bay, nesting through- 

 out its range; winters in Southern states and southward 

 to Brazil. 



Season — Summer resident; April to September or October. 



Do you know the spotted sandpiper, teeter, tilt-up, 

 teeter-tail, teeter-snipfe, or tip-up, the f amihar Uttle spotted 

 sandpiper of ditches and pools, roadside and woodland 

 streams, river shores, creeks, swamps, and wet meadows — 

 of the sea beaches, too, during the migrations? Quite as 

 frequently it goes to dry uplands, wooded slopes, and 

 mountains as high as the timber line, as if undecided 

 whether to be a shore or a land bird, a wader or a songster. 

 Charming to the eye and ear alike, what possible attraction 

 can a half dozen of these pathetically small bodies, roasted 

 and served on a skewer, have to a hungry man when beef- 

 steak may be obtained? A thrush is larger and scarcely 

 more tuneful, yet numbers of these Kttle sandpipers are 

 shot annually. 



Some quaint and ridiculous mannerisms, recorded in » 

 large list of popular names, make this a particularly inter- 

 esting bird to watch. Alighting after a short, low flight, it 

 first stands still, like a willet, to look about; then making a 

 deep bow to the spectator, you might feel complimented by 

 the obeisance, did not the elevation of the rear extremity 

 turned toward you the next minute imply a withering con- 

 tempt. Bowing first toward you, then from you, the 

 teeter deliberately sea-saws east, west, north, south. 

 This absurd performance, frequently and ever solemnly 



