124 WADING BIRDS. 



August to the 6th of September, they were seen in flocks innu- 

 merable on the hills about Chatteux Bay, on the coast of Lab- 

 rador, soon after which they all departed for the South; at 

 this time they kept chiefly on the open grounds, and feeding 

 on crowberries, were very fat and well flavored. 



A few of these birds migrate northward along the Atlantic coast, 

 and some wander by the way of the Great Lakes ; but the route 

 taken by the majorit}'^ is up the valley of the Mississippi and across 

 the plains, where they have been met with in "immense flocks" 

 during May. They spend the summer on the Barren Lands within 

 the Arctic circle, and after raising their broods, start on the migra- 

 tion southward, crossing to Labrador, where several naturalists 

 have found them in great abundance. But though so abundant in 

 that region, comparatively few pass southward through the Maritime 

 Provinces, and they are reported as uncommon all along the 

 Atlantic shore of the United States ; so it is supposed that the 

 larger number fly direct from Labrador to South America, over 

 which country they roam during the winter, ranging to its south- 

 ernmost point. 



Dr. Coues, who met with large numbers of these birds in Labra- 

 dor, states that their principal food was crowberry, or " curlew- 

 berry," as the natives call it ; but they also fed extensively on a 

 small snail which adhered to the rocks on the sea-shore and were 

 left uncovered at low tide. 



Mr. G. H. Mackay, in his interesting biography of the species, 

 says the birds are met with on the uplands, as well as on the sea- 

 shore, feeding on insects and seeds, much after the habit of some 

 of the Plovers. 



