Wilson's sandpiper. 



331 



ultima tliule of the continent, where they barelj stay long enough 

 to rear a single brood, destined, as soon as they are able, to wander 

 with the rest, and swell the aerial host, whose sole delight, like the 

 untiring Petrels of the storm, or the ambitious Albatross, is to be in 

 perpetual action ; and are thus, by their associated numbers, obliged 

 perpetually to rove in quest of their transient, periodical, and varyini? 

 prey. 



In the middle States, the Dunlins arrive on their way to the north 

 in April and May ; and in September and October, they are again seen 

 pursuing the route to their hybernal retreat in the south. At these 

 times they often mingle with the flocks of other strand birds, from 

 which they are distinguishable by the rufous color of their upper plum- 

 age. They frequent the muddy flats and shores of the salt marshes, at 

 the recess of the tide, feeding on the worms, insects and minute shell-fish 

 which such places generally aftbrd. They are also very nimble on the 

 strand, frequenting the sandy beaches which bound the ocean, running 

 and gleaning up their prey with great activity, on the reflux of thf 

 waves. 



WILSON S SANDPIPER. 



This small, and nearly resident species, may be considered as th« 

 most common and abun- 

 dant in America, inhab- ^ :^ 

 iting the shores and ^ 

 marshes of the whole 

 continent, both to the 

 north and south of the 

 equator; retiring proba- 

 bly, with the inclemency " 

 of the season, indifter- - 

 ently, from either frigid ^ 

 circle, towards the warm- 

 er and more hospitable ^ 

 regions within the 

 tropics. They are con- 

 sequently seen, spring 

 and autumn, in all the markets of the Union, as well as in those 

 of the West Indies, Vera Cruz, and in the interior as far as Mexico. 

 Captain Cook also found them on the opposite side of the continent, 

 frequenting the shores of Nootka Sound. The great mass of their 

 pigmy host retire to breed within the desolate lands of the Arctic 

 circle, where, about the 20th of May, or as soon as the snow begins to 

 melt, and the rigors of the long and nocturnal winter relax, they are 

 again seen to return to the shores and swampy borders of their native 

 lakes, in the inclement parallel of %^''. Though shy and quailing on 

 their first arrival, with many other aerial passengers of like habits, 

 they contribute to give an air of life and activity, to these most dreary, 

 otherwise desolate, and inhospitable regions of the earth. Endowed 



inU01l*S BAITDPIPXE. 



