SANDPIPERS, QUAIL, AND KILDEER 
tall grass during the day ? Opinion was 
divided on this point, and no proof was 
ever obtained as to the cause of their dis- 
appearance. They were only one of the 
many bird families decimated by cruel 
prowlers. Often and often I have wondered 
that ever any nestling came to maturity. It 
is the smaller song-birds that are most often 
the victims, and pessimism insists that the 
day will come when no more bird-songs 
will be heard in our woods, only the shrill 
screams of the birds of prey, the caw of the 
crow, the shriek of the bluejay, and the 
melancholy hooting of the owl. 
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