The Black-necked Stilt 
pep , or krek, krek, krek , 
incessantly repeated. 
The din is so great and 
so constant that, if 
obliged to work in the 
swamps all day, one’s 
head fairly aches with 
the clamor before the 
day’s end. 
While all are shout¬ 
ing lustily, the birds 
whose nests are more 
immediately threatened 
are doing decoy stunts 
of several fascinating 
sorts. The favorite line 
of effort is the broken- 
leg act, in which the 
bird collapses suddenly, 
as though one of its 
little pipe-stem legs had 
snapped in two. The 
act is performed with 
such sincerity, even 
when the bird is stand¬ 
ing in only an inch or so 
of water, that it never 
ceases to be amusing. 
Moreover, the trick is 
repeated diligently every 
few feet, so that it begins 
to look as though the 
bird had taken some 
fakir vow to prostrate 
itself every third or 
fourth step. The Avocet, now that one thinks of it, does the same thing; 
but it does it awkwardly or, as it were, cautiously, and so unconvincingly. 
It has manifestly copied from its more agile neighbor. 
The second line of effort, most faithfully pursued, is wing-fluttering. 
In this, again, the Stilt is rather the mistress. It has perfected a trick 
of putting up one wing at a time and letting the wind towsle it about, 
as though it were really broken. Of course it also flutters both wings, and 
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