The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1901-10-25

" BarbaraV was long a
mooted question along the
Southern California coast. The crab
fishermen who put out daily from
the port In their picturesque
craft, to sail northward along the
peaceful waterways of the channel
kelp, had said that the plpers reared
their young on the swinging SUBMITS
OF the wonderful sea hedges that
fringe the coast below Point Concep-
Zion, and that the tiny birds spent the
first weeks OF their lives upon these
fragile marine meadows above the
heavlng Pacific. But townsfolk. and
among them naturallsts, insisted that
the birds nestled inland along the sandy
shadows of the creeks that wandered
down from the enclrcling mountains
TO the sea-
40 one had ever seen n aandpipers
nest. and the small birds, brownish
black with the deep rusty-red disks on
side and back, swlrling in flocks of
hundreds over the blue waters OF the
channel. never revealed the secret Of
their birth. One of the Western uni
versities once sent a young man, a stu
dent named Coville, to inquire into
the sandpipers habits, and not until
then did the people of Santa Barbara
discover that the tiny fellow and his
habitat were of the least interest to
the world.
The young student-naturalist deter
mined to explore the kelp beds. From
the mountains and high places along
the coast one can see the sea hedges,
stretching like ribbons of amber satin
along the blue water, with the tumult
&C the open sea beating on their outer
sides, and on the inner side the mir
rored shoals where dwell the sand
pipers and other fowl.
The channel kelp is strong bulwark
that breaks the waves and tides from
the inner water a woven wall of ca
ble-llke vines and plants, braided with
sc1 grasses, weeds and parasitic algae,
through which the coast steamers,
when they wish to land, must keep a
the great storms tear away many acres
of the kelp and hurl 1t ashore in inn
mense masses, with heavy stones and
bOulders still grasped by the roots of
the sea plants, showing how strong is
the anchorage of the marine meadows.
Coville went in quest Of the sand
pipers' homes below Point Conception,
where, with a young man living near,
he made daily trips to the sea hedges.
They were out one afternoon as
usual, in Edward Potter's boat, and
had pushed far up q narrow channel
into the kelp. The naturalist was
watching on both sides, while his com
panion slowly rOwed through the lu.
cent water. 1t was after the high
spring tides, when the crab fishermen
hid the pipers nest; the shore waters
were smooth as glass under the sun
shine. 1t was such delightfully."- lazy
work that the two young men had long
hours Of waiting In which to become
warm friends, and they were both in
terested in all the swarming, wonder
full sea life about and below them.
But Of the sandpipers' nests, nothing
The small birds circled about then
with exasperating familiarity, percheC
on the water plants within oar length
with cries of "Weet! weetv' and were
the most conspicuous tenants of tn,
sea fields, but they baffled all attempt
to discover their hOusemaking ant
their young.
To-day the men went far from thei
usual haunts into the kelp, pushin,
the boat by main strength through
sinuous openings and over masses o
floating weed until, at 5 o'clock, the.
were thoroughly tired.
They rested in the bottom of til
boat and ate their lunch. Potter had
shotgun, and was waiting for a sho
at one of the hawks that circled aboy
and darted at times at the swift piper
on the kelp. Coville scanned the III
dulating vegetation with his glas!
seeking the sandpipers' haunts.
Then he gave an exclamation: 'Pv
found them! There are young piper
on the weeds toward the sea! Nv
been watching them long time; thel
ought to be nests If there are younj
I'm sure there are young ones! Can
you see them?"
Potter laughed at the naturalist's Ell
thusiasm, but he pulled in among I'll
weeds, and when the rowing becam
hard they both worked with oar an
pole until the craft was wedged in IL
fibrous vines Of heavier vegetatlo
than any they had yet encountere
It was on this that Coville discoverC