The Black-necked Stilt 



par excellence, and we 

 shall see that it makes 

 out very well with its 

 extraordinary equip- 

 ment. 



I know of nothing 

 which admits a man 

 more surely to the inti- 

 mate wild of nature than 

 the sight of a company 

 of Black-necked Stilts 

 feeding quietly along the 

 sedge-grown margins of 

 a shallow pond. One 

 feels a delicious sense 

 of privilege, as though 

 he were being permitted 

 to gaze upon some as- 

 semblage of antedelu- 

 vians. Concealment on 

 the bird's part is impos- 

 sible, for his plumage is 

 highly advertising. Bet- 

 ter, though, if the 

 observer have a blind 

 or a tent or, at least, 

 a covered automobile. 

 Fancy automobiles at a 

 Miocene spectacle! The 

 birds are impossible; you 

 have settled that in ad- 

 vance. This will be a 

 clownish performance 

 with many a mishap of 

 broken stilts or of 

 damaged shins. But as 

 we watch the deft celer- 

 ity and alert confidence 

 of these gifted waders, 

 incredulity changes to 

 wonder, and wonder to 

 admiration. If the 



Taken near Los Banos 



DADDY LONGLEGS 



Photo by the Author 



