SPOTTED SANDPIPER 437 



The young run about with remarkable ease and swiftness ahnost 

 as soon as they are out of their shells. When danger approaches 

 they immediately, upon an alarm signal from their parents, run and 

 hide themselves, squatting close to the ground, and there remain per- 

 fectly immovable, resembling small drab-eolored stones, each with a 

 single streak of black down the middle. If a young bird finds itself 

 discovered, and an attempt is made to take it, it runs with great 

 celerity, uttering the most plaintive cries. 



At the same time the parents exhibit symptoms of distress and 

 counterfeit lameness with great skill (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, 

 1884, I, p. 304). 



A brood of three downy young of this species was observed in the 

 edge of the pine woods at Tenaya Lake, Yosemite National Park, on 

 July 29, 1915. Even at this early age they displayed the bobbing 

 movement of the hinder parts which is so characteristic of the adults, 

 and performed it every few seconds as they ran through the grass ; at 

 longer intervals the whole head and fore parts were bobbed abruptly 

 upwards in the manner of a Willet (Storer, MS) . 



At Redondo, Los Angeles County, December 7, 1913, Law (1914, 

 p. 93) took three Spotted Sandpipers all of which had parts of the 

 feet or legs amputated. This observer suggests that the mutilation 

 may be due to the birds having been seized by crabs and that the feet 

 were twisted off in their efforts to escape. Of course mussels may 

 equally well have been the cause of the trouble. 



Insects constitute the chief element of the food of the Spotted 

 Sandpiper when inland. These include beetles, green flies. May flies, 

 grasshoppers, cutworms, army worms, cabbage worms, and ants. The 

 stomach of a downy young examined by Beal contained a small spider, 

 a small caterpillar, 2 tiny wasps, 2 bugs, several aquatic beetles, 7 

 weevils, and several larval and 10 adult earabid beetles (Judd, 1901, 

 p. 433). 



While the fact that the Spotted Sandpiper in California rarely 

 visits cultivated ground prevents giving the bird positive credit as a 

 pest-destroyer, it is at least harmless. Neither can it be argued that 

 the species is in danger of extinction; its range is broad, and even 

 in many well settled regions it holds its own. Yet its small size pre- 

 cludes it being considered proper game, either for sport or for the 

 table. Rather should it be given complete protection along with the 

 other diminutive members of its family. 'Its presence adds a lively 

 . touch to the landscape. 



