The Western Sandpiper 



UwMMm 



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Taken in Washington 



PEACE 



Photo by the Author 



est. Anyhow, I think they all won, for as nearly as the eye could judge the 

 birds hopped to wing without the assistance of the elevated foot, when 

 startled from this position. 



On another occasion when they wished to glean from the surface of a 

 light water-weed which was too frail to support their weight, and in water 

 too deep for wading, I have seen the birds maintain themselves with 

 fluttering wings while they snatched their prey rapidly. The legs mean- 

 while were used for what they were worth, and as often as the water-weed 

 did promise to support the weight thus, the wing-motion would cease 

 momentarily. Seen breasting the wind in this fashion, the Peeps rather 

 reminded one of Swallows, or even of Black Terns, although the fluttering 

 was more uniform than the dab-and-dodge method of the Tern. 



These little Peeps, by the way, swim as gracefully as Phalaropes when 

 they are put to it. But they swim, apparently, only when tempted 

 beyond their depth in pursuit of some escaping edenda, or when surprised 

 by the inequality of the bottom. 



It is a source of perennial interest to see how close one can get to a 

 company of Sandpipers. If one has patience to lie motionless beside some 

 salty plash, the birds will sometimes venture within touching distance. 

 Nothing, to my mind, could exceed the flattery implied by the near 



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