The Snowy Plover 
tide, and the unheeding step. The last-named operates by the laws 
of chance, with dangers ever increasing in proportion as humans throng 
the beaches. A pitiful remnant of a once flourishing colony still main¬ 
tains itself within the city limits of Santa Barbara, at a point where 
thousands of people pass daily. The tide, acting in conjunction with the 
wind, visits a colony with sudden devastation almost every season, and 
sometimes overwhelms it in implacable succession. 
The wind is a more constant enemy, but with this the bird is probably 
able to cope. I once found a nest containing three eggs, of which only 
one, and that one for the space of only a fingernail's breadth, was visible 
Taken in Santa Barbara Photo by the Author 
DUTY HALF DONE 
THE BIRD IS STILL TOO FEARFUL OF THE CAMERA TO COVER HER EGGS PROPERLY 
above the drifted sand. Leaving them undisturbed and returning two 
days later, I found the eggs fully exposed and the clam-shell flagging 
completely restored. How did the bird accomplish this? By prying up 
the buried treasures? or by removing the unwelcome accumulation beakful 
by beakful? I could not tell; but a more favorable opportunity offering 
elsewhere, I first assisted nature by lifting sand into the air by handfuls 
and letting the wind almost bury the eggs, and then retired to cover to 
watch the outcome. The female had evidently been sitting all day, for 
she was glad of a respite and made no feints at returning. She summoned 
her mate and played with him along the placid margin of the bottled 
Beale lagoon, then took a bath in its shallows. After this they pattered, 
as by a preconcerted movement, to the shelter of a sand hummock, where 
they “wiped” vigorously and elaborately. The return was so delayed 
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