328 Bartram's Sandpiper — Upland Plover 



toward them. I have occasionally stalked them 

 by keeping close to the shoulder of a steady 

 old horse that was indifferent in the matters 

 of smoke and loud reports. A reliable nag, 

 equipped with some inconspicuous form of halter 

 and guide-line, is a very useful assistant when 

 birds are too wary for ordinary scouting tac- 

 tics. Occasionally, sudden heavy rains flood 

 big meadows, and thus furnish attractive tem- 

 porary quarters for ducks and waders of vari- 

 ous sorts. In such emergencies the horse may 

 prove an almost invaluable assistant. A cow 

 of sedate temperament is a possibility in the 

 same line, but she seldom is so easy to con- 

 trol as the superior animal. In the olden days, 

 an artificial stalking horse frequently was called 

 into service ; and it is quite possible that a 

 colt out of that ancient steed still might prove 

 useful upon ground which has been much used 

 as pasture. 



The fluting of this sandpiper is sweet, far- 

 reaching, and somewhat deceptive. Quite often 

 it is distinctly heard falling from an apparently 

 wingless sky. A good pair of eyes, fixed upon 

 the quarter indicated by the cry, may pres- 

 ently detect a motelike form lazily floating in 

 the distant blue. This drifting flight is charac- 

 teristic of the present species, and it usually 

 ends in a diving slant earthward, which is per- 



