BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 261 



History. 



Little seems to be known of the history of the Stilt Sand- 

 piper in New England before the last quarter of the nineteenth 

 century. Since then it has been rated as a rare or uncommon 

 migrant in the coastal States of New England. Coues early 

 predicted that it would be found here. Brewster secured two 

 specimens at Rye Beach, N. H., in 1868 and 1869. Since then 

 the bird has been taken and seen with more or less regularity 

 and frequency, and as the numbers of ornithologists have 

 increased in New England, and the means of publishing their 

 records have multiplied, our knowledge of this species has 

 increased until records of its occurrence are no longer considered 

 unusual. It seems not uncommon at times on Cape Cod. 

 The Chatham Beach Hotel record shows two hundred and 

 fifteen birds shot in seven years, but one hundred and three 

 of these were taken in 1901. In Giraud's time the bird was 

 common enough on Long Island to be known to the gunners 

 there as the Bastard Yellow-leg. It resembles the Yellow-legs 

 so much that it probably was overlooked in New England until 

 Brewster "discovered" it. From what we know of the his- 

 tory of this bird it is safe to assume that it always has occurred 

 in New England since the settlement of the country, and that 

 it was more common in the early part of the history of these 

 States than it is to-day. 



The Stilt Sandpiper easily is mistaken for the small Yellow- 

 legs, particularly in fall, when its gray plumage, long legs and 

 the whitish look of rump and tail present a similar appear- 

 ance to that of the Yellow-legs. But the legs always have a 

 greenish tint, and are never as bright yellow as those of the 

 Yellow-legs. It has a habit of immersing its bill in the sand 

 and holding it there for some time, as if sucking up some- 

 thing. Sometimes the head also is immersed when the bird 

 is feeding in the mud at the bottom. Its habits otherwise 

 resemble those of the Yellow-legs. Audubon found small 

 worms, small shell-fish and vegetable matter in the stomachs 

 of several birds of this species. 



