The Snowy Plover 



Taken in Orange C 



right M. Pi 



AN ARTISTIC HOME 



and there was so little promise of interest, that I allowed my attention to 

 wander to a group of shivering Sanderlings, jostling and crowding behind 

 a low barrier of sand. Imagine my self-reprobation when upon bending 

 a casual glance toward the plover nest I found the female already estab- 

 lished. But she had evidently not been there long, for she immediately 

 set about improving conditions. She first rose, then bent down and thrust 

 her beak deep into the sand, bending it upward and inward to pry up the egg. 

 After tugging for a time with apparently satisfactory results, she reversed 

 her position, settled to her eggs and began kicking vigorously backward, 

 tedder-fashion, sending the sand away in tiny showers. This done, she 

 performed a similar office for another egg. By the time she had given 

 the whole nestful two rounds of this alternate prying and kicking she had 

 the eggs well clear of the sand, and she settled herself contentedly, head 

 to the wind. It was all done with dexterity and swiftness, and went far 

 to relieve the mind of that anxiety to which the sight of many buried 

 eggs had made it a prey. 



Partly, we may suppose, because of average misfortunes, the Snowy 

 Plover finds it necessary to nest twice, at least in our southern latitudes. 



TJ2I 



