COMMON SANDPIPER. l6l 



The graceful " Summer Snipe," with its cheery note as it 

 skims over the northern river, lake, or loch, needs little descrip- 

 tion ; the only birds with which it may be confused are the 

 Green and Wood-Sandpipers, both of which have white rumps. 

 Most of the Common Sandpipers have left before these 

 autumn birds appear. Though nesting on lowland streams 

 and pools this bird is the sandpiper of the hills, delight- 

 inc^ in the clear trout-streams where its companions are the 

 Dipper and Grey Wagtail. It seldom haunts the coast until 

 autumn. The hills are usually deserted before the end of July; 

 indeed, in this month small parties, probably families, reach 

 the lowland streams and shore, and early in August emigration 

 begins. Actual migration often takes place at night, for the 

 familiar calls of birds keeping touch with one another are not 

 uncommon on autumn nights. Most birds leave the north 

 before the end of August, though stragglers may pass for a 

 month or more ; in Cornwall and Devon a few occasionally 

 winter. 



When the Sandpiper reaches its summer haunts it settles on 

 its own reach of the river or stretch of lake-side ; there it wades 

 in the shallows, catching gammarids and other crustaceans, small 

 worms and the larvae of insects. If approached it will stand 

 jerking its tail and nodding its head. Suddenly it takes wing, 

 its course over the water a semicircle, its wing-beats strong and 

 decided, alternating with a sharp downward stroke when for a 

 moment the down-bent primaries perceptibly quiver. During 

 this characteristic flight the long rippling whistle is uttered, a 

 call from which the bird gets two local names — " Kittie-Needie" 

 and " Willy-wicket " ; either of these, repeated quickly two or 

 three times, gives a better idea of the note than many of the 

 attempts to express it by a combination of letters. Courtship 

 begins immediately after arrival. The male bird trills a love- 

 song, either when on the wing, when the down-pointed tips 

 vibrate rapidly but actual progress is slow, or when running, 



Series II. M 



