The Snowy Plover 



tide, and the unheeding step. The last-named operates by the laws 

 of chance, with dangers ever increasing in proportion as humans throng 

 the beaches. A pitiful remnant of a once flourishing colony still main- 

 tains itself within the city limits of Santa Barbara, at a point where 

 thousands of people pass daily. The tide, acting in conjunction with the 

 wind, visits a colony with sudden devastation almost every season, and 

 sometimes overwhelms it in implacable succession. 



The wind is a more constant enemy, but with this the bird is probably 

 able to cope. I once found a nest containing three eggs, of which only 

 one, and that one for the space of only a fingernail's breadth, was visible 



Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 



DUTY HALF DONE 



THE BIRD IS STILL TOO FEARFUL OF THE CAMERA TO COVER HER EGGS PROPERLY 



above the drifted sand. Leaving them undisturbed and returning two 

 days later, I found the eggs fully exposed and the clam-shell flagging 

 completely restored. How did the bird accomplish this? By prying up 

 the buried treasures? or by removing the unwelcome accumulation beakful 

 by beakful? I could not tell; but a more favorable opportunity offering 

 elsewhere, I first assisted nature by lifting sand into the air by handfuls 

 and letting the wind almost bury the eggs, and then retired to cover to 

 watch the outcome. The female had evidently been sitting all day, for 

 she was glad of a respite and made no feints at returning. She summoned 

 her mate and played with him along the placid margin of the bottled 

 Beale lagoon, then took a bath in its shallows. After this they pattered, 

 as by a preconcerted movement, to the shelter of a sand hummock, where 

 they "wiped" vigorously and elaborately. The return was so delayed 



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