THE DEAD TREE'S DAY . 
115 
bushes, and flew directly at me, turning sharply 
just before reaching my head, and making a 
loud noise both by striking his wings against 
branches and by his harsh voice. If his pur¬ 
pose was to startle me he certainly succeeded. 
The afternoon was clear, still, and warm, and 
the birds were evidently drowsy. From two 
until after four nothing perched in the tree. A 
sandpiper amused me by his patient search for 
food, as he waded back and forth on the mud 
over which the brook spread as it entered the 
lake. For an hour he confined himself to a 
space less than six feet square and worked over 
almost every inch of it. Much of the time he 
merely prodded the mud gently with his long, 
quill-like bill, but occasionally he seemed to see 
something squirm, and then he pursued it 
quickly and stabbed more vigorously. Much 
of the time the water was above his knees, and 
sometimes he ran into deeper places, so that it 
lapped upon his breast. Twice he plunged his 
head and neck entirely under water, but his 
eyes seemed to need no wiping when they 
emerged as wide open as before. Sometimes he 
crossed his legs and stood like a camp-stool, 
with his thin props meeting their equally straw¬ 
like reflections in the brook. After a while a 
second sandpiper appeared, but his method was 
to travel rapidly along the water line, and he 
was soon out of sight. 
