Bartram's Sandpiper — Upland Plover 329 



formed without any perceptible motion of the 

 wings. A few feet from the ground the long, 

 beautifully easy descent is gently checked, and 

 the bird alights as quietly as though it had 

 stooped only a yard or so instead of hundreds 

 or thousands of feet. For a few seconds after 

 alighting the bird is apt to keep its wings con- 

 siderably elevated above its back, and the brief 

 pose in this position is particularly attractive. 

 Then the airy fans are sedately furled. This 

 pretty trick of keeping the wings spread as if 

 for a momentary study of how they should be 

 correctly folded is not peculiar to this species. 

 Others of its near and remote kin go through 

 the same dainty evolution, although, perhaps, 

 without the air of studied care which is charac- 

 teristic of Bartram's sandpiper. 



While the excellence of this bird for the table 

 is universally acknowledged, it would appear 

 that a sojourn in Louisiana is necessary to 

 bring it to the greatest perfection. A certain 

 Creole, himself an amateur chef of no uncer- 

 tain standing, has often assured me that the 

 '' papabotte," a la Louisiana, is the daintiest 

 morsel that ever tickled an appreciative palate, 

 not even excepting a prime woodcock. His 

 argument is that the peculiar excellence of the 

 papabotte, like that of the canvasback, is merely 

 a matter of diet, and that the papabotte, while 



