The Snowy Plover 



formed of which only one is eventually occupied. For one thing, the bird 

 requires a slight elevation — three or four inches will do — so that she may 

 command an unobstructed view of approaching danger. The bird takes 

 good care not to be caught at home, quitting her charge sometimes at a 

 hundred yards' remove; and it is no easy trick to find the eggs, unaided. If 

 incubation is advanced, or discovery indubitable, the anxious mother may 

 return to practice decoy ruses, trailing a broken wing, grovelling, and the 

 rest. The male meanwhile is describing anxious circles in the offing; or 

 else, by way of distraction, he patters forward until he is sure that he is 

 commanding attention, then stops abruptly, bridling the head, and by 

 repeated bobs challenges your right to intrude. It is rather good sport, 

 too, once a location is made, to return by stealth and watch the female 

 making that long-range sneak from her eggs. Her attitude is eloquent of 

 secrecy. She hugs the sand as closely as is consistent with lightning 

 speed. The tell-tale marks of head and chest are averted, so that only 

 the sand-colored back may be presented to an eye presumably undis- 

 criminating. Pauses are made now and then to note the bearing of the 

 stranger, but the glance is covert and the sandy flight is hastily resumed. 

 In still weather the vicinage of the nest is enveloped in a network of 

 intersecting tracks; for the bird never leaves or approaches the eggs save 



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Taken near Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 



"PROTECTIVELY COLORED TO THE POINT OF INVISIBILITY" 



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