. A popular handbook of the birds of Canada and the United States [microform]. Oiseaux; Birds. i6a WADING BIRDS. grayiih yeUow ot dull cream color marked with a great num- ber of specks and spots of dark brown, with a very few of a somewhat lighter shade, the whole most numerous at the larger end; they are about one and one fourth inches in length, and very wide at the greater end. On being flushed ftom her eggs, the female goes off without uttering any complaint j but when surprised with her young, she practises all the arts of dwsimu- lation common to many other birds, fluttering in the path
. A popular handbook of the birds of Canada and the United States [microform]. Oiseaux; Birds. i6a WADING BIRDS. grayiih yeUow ot dull cream color marked with a great num- ber of specks and spots of dark brown, with a very few of a somewhat lighter shade, the whole most numerous at the larger end; they are about one and one fourth inches in length, and very wide at the greater end. On being flushed ftom her eggs, the female goes off without uttering any complaint j but when surprised with her young, she practises all the arts of dwsimu- lation common to many other birds, fluttering in the path as if badly wounded, and generally succeeds in this way so far to deceive a dog, or perhaps squirrel, as to cause them to over- look the brood for whose protection these instmctive arts are practised. Nor are the young without their artful instmct, for on hearing the reiterated cries of their parents, they scatter about, and squatting still in the withered grass, almost exactly their color, it is with careltd search very difficult to discover them, so that nine times out often they would be overlooked, and only be endangered by the tread, which they would en- dure sooner than betray their conscious retreat. At a Uter period the shores and marshes resound with the quick, clear, and oft-repeated note ot pttt wM, fit wM, fol- lowed up by a plaintive call on the young of peet,peet ptett petti If this is not answered by the scattered brood, a reite- rated 'wttt, 'meet, 'wut, 'wait 'wait is heard, the voice drop- ping on the final syllables. The whole marsh and the shores at times echo to this loud, lively, and solicitous call of the affectionate parents for their brood. The cry, of course, is most frequent towards evening, when the little family, sep- arated by the necessity of scattering themselves over the ground in quest of food, are again desirous of reassembling to roost. The young as soon as hatched run about in the grass and utter from the first a weak, pUintive/^, at length
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1903
