SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — TRYNGITES. 307 



Mr. Dresser met with this bird ueur Matanioras late iu August. Visiting the 

 lagoon early one morning, he noticed a flock of Sandpipers near him, on a little 

 grassy place a short distance from the water, and on shooting some of them, found 

 them to be of this species ; the next day, on visiting the same place, he was able to 

 procure others. In travelling thence to 8an Antonio, in September, he found these 

 birds rather common throughout the wdiole journey ; and he often shot them, finding 

 them excellent eating. They were not shy, and went in flocks of from five to twelve 

 in number. They did not resort to the pools, but lived on the small insects found 

 amongst the coarse herbage which often grows some distance from the water. Kear 

 Victoria they were very abundant, but after leaving that town he noticed only a few. 

 At San Antonio he saw none, but was informed by Dr. Heermann that they are often 

 found there in the spring and autumn. Dr. Merrill also found this species on the 

 Eio Grande, and mentions its frequenting the same localities and observing the same 

 seasons as the Upland Plover, which it closely resembles in habits, though it is much 

 less shy and suspicious. 



This species has not been detected in California, but Dr. Cooper is confident that 

 it occurs there, at least as far south as San Francisco. It is found sparingly north 

 of the Columbia. According to Dr. Heermann, on the interior prairies this species 

 feeds on insects, and ntters merely a low tiveet, two or three times repeated. It runs 

 swiftly and, if alarmed, flies rapidly, making circuitous sweeps before alighting again. 

 This author claims to have found its nest in Texas, made of grasses, placed in a 

 hollow in the ground, and containing four eggs. But as this bird breeds in high 

 northern regions, up to the very borders of the Arctic Ocean, he may have been 

 mistaken in his identification. 



It occurs in Cuba, according to Gundlach, as a winter visitant, and probably in 

 other West India islands. It visits Trinidad, where, as Leotaud states, it is knoAvn 

 as the Little Yellowleg, and where it makes its appearance in August, departing in 

 October. It comes regularly, but never in great numbers, and it is almost always in 

 company with the Totanus flavipes. 



During the winter months it appears to be resident in South America as far south 

 as the Plata, where it was procured by Dr. Darwin. Mr. Salvin received an example 

 from Bogota, and Xatterer obtained examples in various parts of Brazil between No- 

 vember and :March. It is also reported from Peru by Messrs. Salvin and Godman. 



It is not of infrequent, although of irregular and accidental, occurrence in Europe, 

 Professor Blasius includes it in his List of the Birds of Heligoland ; and Mr. Yarrell 

 records quite a number of instances in which it has been taken in England and Ire- 

 land, where it Avas noticed among flocks of Dunlins and Ring Plovers. Vieillot 

 includes it among the birds of France, on account of one having been taken in Pic- 

 ardy. It was first made knoA\ai as a species by Vieillot, from a specimen taken in 

 Louisiana, where it had not been noticed by Audubon. It was unknown both to AVil- 

 son and to Bonaparte ; and the first specimen seen by Audubon was one in possession 

 of the Arctic explorer. Captain James Clark Ross, who had received it from a sailor, 

 by whom it had been procured in the course of one of the numerous inland excursions 

 in the desolate regions from Avhich the party had recently returned. From this Mr. 

 Audubon rightly conjectured that this bird bred within the Arctic Circle. Mr. Bernard 

 Ross mentions having found it on the Mackenzie River, where it was quite rare. A 

 single specimen w^as noticed by Mr. Frank L. Tileston in Prince Edward's Island, 

 where it was regarded as very uncommon. 



Mr. Nelson, in his "Notes on the Birds of Northeastern Illinois," mentions it as a 

 very rare migrant in that region, only one specimen, so far as known, having been 



