PIED PIPERS OF SANTA BARBARA. 
2S3 
thrive in the air and water of such solitudes. The im¬ 
mense water vines are like interlacing cables braided with 
sea-j^-rasses, weeds and parasitic alj^m which form an im¬ 
penetrable sub-marine junj^le, averajjfinf^ about half a mile 
in width. From outlook on the distant mountains this 
kelp-band shines like a ribbon of amber satin dividing the 
disturbed blue of the outer channel from the mirror-like 
shoal. It is an admirable storm-filter, and in its meshes 
the fiercest tide currents lose their force. 
When a skiff crosses this miniature sarj'-ossa its oars 
punt aj^ainst tanj>fled leaves and stems, and its keel swishes 
over the weeds like sled«-e-runners over snow. Here and 
there a frond-latticed window of blue water looks down 
into bower}" depths where stranj^e sea-plants — black, rose, 
purple and crimson — form proves that literally swarm with 
life, while the surface above is filmed with insect larva', 
fish roe, butterflies, jelly-fish, brilliant dra^on-hies and 
moored flotillas of the wing^ed nautilus. 
Crab fishermen who row along this sea-wall nearl v every 
day in the year — and tell some queer and uncanny tales of 
it when safe ashore -aver that here in rare seasons when 
the weather fares to a long lull after the spring tides, the 
little sand-pipers set their cradles swinging at apex of the 
kelp-thickets. The nests are cunningly constructed of 
stems and filaments glued together — cup-shaped canoes, in 
fact — and by a clever arrangement of the attaching libers 
the baby fledgelings float secure, their water-proof ham¬ 
mocks rising and falling like nests on a breeze-rocked bough. 
The young are soon hatched and learn to wade and dive 
before they can flv. The sea-weed floor is as comfortable 
as a meadow, making an almost continuous buoy for infant 
claws to cling to, and a varied diet of fish-roe, barnacles, 
saline scale-bugs and the like cover the kelp from root to 
blossom with capital bird food. 
Still, danger lurks above and below. There are fishes 
that spring like panthers ; sharks of all sizes, from the 
minnow just wriggling out of its shell to monsters that 
measure — incredible as it may seem ^forty feet in length. 
There are multitudes of hawks, jelly-fish that snare and 
destroy little birds, and devil-fish that well deserve their 
name. Besides, too, an unexi)ected gale may wrench loose 
whole acres of the sea-weed and hurl it ashore— thousands 
of tons in a single night sometimes with such force that 
great stones are dragged from the channel bed, lassoed by 
the vine-roots. So that, although the friendly kelp tries 
to be an ideal kindergarten for ruffle-toed babies, manv 
little pipers must come to grief. 
Berkeley, Cal, 
