460 FORT ERIE. 



zon rise the distant mountains towards Pennsylvania; and 

 directly east is the city with all its mingled scenery. In 

 the morning a dense fog along the river and lake, like a 

 thick curtain, may shut off the view of the city entirely, 

 the din and noise of the great stirring community seeming 

 only the nearer for this obscurity. Later in the day the air 

 and sky are clear, beautiful and balmy; in the twilight, the 

 harvest moon hangs like a great fire-ball over the center of 

 the city; and in the evening, the lights of streets and dwell- 

 ings mark out a complete outline of the town. Day and 

 night I listen to the voices of the birds, most of which are 

 described elsewhere in this work. I have many fine views 

 of the earlier migrations of the land-birds, but am specially 

 interested in the movements of the little Waders, the differ- 

 ent kinds of which are about as well represented here as they 

 are on the sea-coast. 



In the last days of August a flock of some nine of the Red- 

 breasted Snipe {Macro7'hamphus griseus) appears, sometimes 

 called Gray Snipe, Brown-back, or Dowitcher. It is some 12.00 

 long and 19.00 in extent, the legs long, and the bill pre- 

 cisely like that of the Common Snipe; in summer the gen- 

 eral color is dark-brown, the feathers edged with reddish; 

 underneath dark-red, edged and mixed with dusky; tail and 

 coverts banded with black and white. In winter, gray above 

 and on the breast; the belly, eye-brow and lower eye-lid, 

 white. It is always distinguishable by its white shaft in the 

 outer primary. The nest is after the manner of the Snipe, 

 the eggs also being similar in color, and about 1.65X1.12. 



About the same time, and for some six weeks later, an 

 occasional flock of the Pectoral Sandpiper [Tringa maculata) 

 appears. Some 9.00 long and 16.50 in extent, the upper 

 parts are dark brown, the feathers generally edged or tipped 

 with yellowish or reddish; the brown tail, being darker in 



