NIAGARA RIVER AND THE DUCKS. 461 



the center, is tipped with white or whitish; the neck, breast 

 and sides, yellowish-gray, with dark streaks; legs greenish. 

 The breast marking is differentiating. It is sometimes 

 called the Jack Snipe. 



Of very frequent appearance during these days is the 

 Sanderling or Ruddy Plover {Calidris arenarid). Some 7.50 

 long, it has the rather short, straight, grooved bill, and the 

 plain-colored tail of the Sandpipers. The upper parts are 

 light ashy, streaked with black, and edged with reddish in 

 summer, but not in winter; the under parts, from the neck, 

 are pure white, making each member of the flock a gleam- 

 ing white point in the landscape, as it tips up in flight. This 

 Beach-bird, as it is often called, is rather silent, appearing 

 singly or in flocks. Its flight is beautiful, and it walks, 

 wades and runs most gracefully on the shore. These Sand- 

 pipers, like their relatives, breed far to the north. 



On a gray October day, a flock of some half-dozen little 

 Brown Titlarks {Anthus liidovicianus) alights in the shallow 

 water on the rocks and wash themselves. Some 6.50 long, 

 ashy-brown above, tinged with olive, the centers of 

 the feathers darker and the edges lighter; the outer tail- 

 feathers white; the eyelids, curved line on the cheeks, and 

 under parts, brownish or creamy-white ; the breast and 

 sides streaked with dusky-ash. This dainty, dove-like 

 walker, having a peculiar jerking, tossing motion of the tail, 

 breeds in Labrador and northward, and down to Colorado 

 in the Rocky Mountains. The 4-6 very dark-colored eggs 

 are laid " in a mossy nest on the ground." This bird passes 

 us early in May in its northward migration, and in October 

 southward. 



NIAGARA RIVER AND THE DUCKS. 



Niagara River is a good place to study the Ducks in the 

 times of migration, or even in the winter. As it does not 



