bartram's tatler. 169 



According to the season of the year, they are found 

 throughout the continent, many retiring south of the equator 

 to pass the winter. They are observed in May, already 

 busily gleaning coleopterous insects on the remote boreal 

 plains of the Saskatchewan, and abound in the extensive 

 prairies west of the Mississippi. At this time, and in 

 June, they are seen common also, in Worcester county, 

 (Mass.) and are believed to breed there. They are equally 

 frequent on the plains of Long Island and New Jersey, and 

 in similar bare and dry pastures in various parts of Massa- 

 chusetts, particularly about Sekonk, and in Rhode Island, 

 near to the sea coast, where they pass the greater part of 

 the summer. Wilson, who first described the species, met 

 with it in the meadows of the Schuylkill, pursuing insects 

 among the grass with great activity. As a straggler, it has 

 been seen, though very rarely, in Germany and Holland. 



The breeding range of this species, extends, in all pro- 

 bability, from Pennsylvania to the fur countries of Upper 

 Canada, as well as westward, on either side of the Missis- 

 sippi. Scattering broods and nests, made in dry meadows, 

 are not uncommon a few miles from Salem, where Mr. N. 

 West informs me, he saw the young just fledged, the pre- 

 sent season, (1833) in the month of July. 



While here, they feed much upon grasshoppers, which 

 now abound in every field, and become so plump as to 

 weigh upwards of three quarters of a pound. They keep 

 together usually in broods, or small companies, not in 

 gregarious swarms, like the Sandpipers, and when ap- 

 proached, are, like Plovers, silent, shy, and watchful, so 

 that it requires some address to approach them within 

 gun shot. They run fast, the older birds sometimes drop- 

 ping their wings and spreading the tail, as if attempting 

 to decoy the spectator from paying attention to their 

 brood. On alighting, they stand erect, remain still, and, 

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