. Bird lore. Birds; Birds; Ornithology. Children of the Midnight Sun 191 A hungry Arctic fox prowled around the home of the Sandpipers the morn- ing of July 5, but the circle of tundra ponds which surrounded the nesting- site proved an effective barrier. Following the marauder's tracks along the beach, we came to where he had eaten a family of young Snow-Buntings that he had dug out of their nest deep in a crack in a 'cut' bank. Another menace hung over the Sandpiper family in the shape of 'Ook-pick,' the large Snowy Owl. If 'Ook-pick' had waited in orthodox Owl fashion until night-time to hun
. Bird lore. Birds; Birds; Ornithology. Children of the Midnight Sun 191 A hungry Arctic fox prowled around the home of the Sandpipers the morn- ing of July 5, but the circle of tundra ponds which surrounded the nesting- site proved an effective barrier. Following the marauder's tracks along the beach, we came to where he had eaten a family of young Snow-Buntings that he had dug out of their nest deep in a crack in a 'cut' bank. Another menace hung over the Sandpiper family in the shape of 'Ook-pick,' the large Snowy Owl. If 'Ook-pick' had waited in orthodox Owl fashion until night-time to hunt for his supper, he would have had to wait for over a month for night to fall, so, being a sensible bird, he did his hunting mornings and even- ings. Thus, as he sat one morning on his favorite perch, a log that stuck up out of a snowdrift, he saw what he took to be a brown lemming mouse scamper-. MALE SANDPIPER (IN BACKGROUND) BROODING A CHICK. ANOTHER CHICK TO THE RIGHT AND BELOW CENTER IS AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF PROTEC- TIVE COLORATION. ing about near Mrs. Sandpiper. He slid from his perch and sailed on silent wings to the spot, but Mrs. Sandpiper had caught a glimpse of him and gave a quick cry of alarm to her children. Not a feather quivered as the youngsters hastily flattened in the grass. Mr. Owl poised directly over them, blinked his large yellow eyes, and doubtless wondered how that lemming mouse dis- appeared so suddenly. The little Sandpipers remained perfectly still until their mother called them after the danger was past. By July 8 the young were leading the parents about. They were now too large to be brooded. During one bright, cold day when there was a freezing wind from off the ice, the mother protected one juvenal from the chill wind by crouching on the windward side of him, thus forming a windbreak. By this time the Juvenal's wing-quills were half-grown, and the young birds stood well above the short grass where they fed. A pair of swift-winged Parasitic Jae
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectorn
