. Nestlings of forest and marsh . all,and all the brood vanished into the earthsomewhere. At least so protective is theircoloring, and so perfectly were these day-old babies trained to obey, that hunt as wewould we were able to find but one of themany. This one flattened himself on abare spot of earth, shut his eyes, and re-mained motionless. When picked up, hecuddled down contentedly in my littledaughters hand, and tried to look pleas-ant for his picture. It is often most difficult to pose theselively bird babies ; some — notably thewoodpeckers — cannot even squat on a flatsurface ; some cann
. Nestlings of forest and marsh . all,and all the brood vanished into the earthsomewhere. At least so protective is theircoloring, and so perfectly were these day-old babies trained to obey, that hunt as wewould we were able to find but one of themany. This one flattened himself on abare spot of earth, shut his eyes, and re-mained motionless. When picked up, hecuddled down contentedly in my littledaughters hand, and tried to look pleas-ant for his picture. It is often most difficult to pose theselively bird babies ; some — notably thewoodpeckers — cannot even squat on a flatsurface ; some cannot be taught to perch atall; and some, like young bluebirds, persistin diving head foremost off any perch, thuscompelling the would-be-photographer tohold a- shield under them and break theirfall. A young coot we caught utterly re-I51 NESTLINGS OF FOREST AND MARSH fused to pose in any position whatever, andhis movements were so swift even instan-taneous failed to get him as he left thefield of vision. We kept him prisoner for. Baby quail in the hand two days, hoping to study him ; and a tamer,prettier baby could nowhere be found. Heknew how to feed himself perfectly, andalthough so tiny was as independent as pos-sible. About half the size of a little chicken,he was covered with thick black down overhis body and funny little wings. His longblackish-green legs and scalloped toes pro-claimed him a wader; and his pointed beak, *52 SANDPIPERS, QUAIL, AND KILDEER tipped with white and mottled at the upperend with dark brown, was curiously like hismammas. In running he spread his littlewings like an ostrich, and hid in the grasswith astonishing rapidity. Poor baby!His was a sad fate, for he ate the poisoneddye of some fur thrown over him as a brooder. We found him dead from theeffects. One bright day in June we came upona family of kildeer consisting of a motherand five little ones. Resolving to try fortheir photos, the Man with the Camera con-cealed it in a bush and, retiring thi
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectbirds, bookyear1902
