156 BULLETIN" 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



young it is amusing to watch the antics of the female. She invariably flies in 

 front and flutters with feigned lameness but a few feet away. If the ground 

 is rough it is more amusing to watch the precipitancy of her flight until she 

 disappears in a hollow, to reappear in a moment on the other side, cautiously 

 turning round and eying us to see if we are following. She always keeps in 

 front of us, no matter which way we turn, and will continue thus for several 

 hundred yards, when she will suddenly fly off to some distance and after 

 waiting awhile will return to the vicinity of the nest or young. 



Mr. Hanna (1921) writes: 



So far as known, the food of both old and young consists of beetles and flies 

 while the birds remain on the highlands ; when they move to the ponds and sea- 

 shores they eat copepods, amphipods, etc. As soon as the young birds are 

 well able to fly they resort to the tide pools and small ponds near the sea. 

 Later the older birds join them and the flocks increase in size to several hun- 

 dred in favorable places. This takes place in August and September in such 

 localities as the Salt Lagoon of St. Paul Island. 



Plumages. — The color pattern of the downy young Pribilof sand- 

 piper is similar to that of the Aleutian, but the colors are different, 

 much duller. The bright browns and buffs of the upper parts are 

 replaced by "burnt umber," "snuff brown," "clay color," and 

 " cinnamon buff," and the black markings are largely replaced by 

 dark browns; the black patch in the center of the back is about as 

 in the Aleutian. The under parts are less pure white, always suf- 

 fused with pale buff on the throat and flanks and sometimes largely 

 so on the breast also. 



Mr. Palmer's (1899) studies of the molts and plumages indicate 

 that they are similar to those of the Aleutian sandpiper; he writes: 



The downy young are beautiful little things, silvery white beneath, bright, 

 rich ocherous above, variegated with black and dots of white. The general 

 color above lacks the grayness of the similar age of maritimus. The white 

 dots are interesting under the microscope. They are composed of a bunch 

 of highly specialized down, in which the radii near the tip are crowded and 

 colorless. As they grow older the first feathers appear on the sides of the 

 breast, on the back and scapulars ; then the primaries and larger wing coverts 

 appear. The feathering continues until the breast and under parts are 

 covered, when the tail appears. At this time there are no feathers on the 

 rump or on the head or neck. In the next stage feathers have appeared on 

 the occiput and on the auriculars and are also extending up the neck. At the 

 same time the tips of the back feathers have become somewhat worn, so that 

 the colored margins are narrower and the black more prominent. The wing 

 coverts are also to some extent worn on their tips. When the bill is an inch 

 long the down has nearly all disappeared, and when it has entirely gone the 

 birds appear in small flocks on the beaches, the young generally keeping to- 

 gether. Then another change takes place, for the entire plumage now gives 

 way to another, that in which the bird passes the winter. A few late July, 

 immature birds show the beginning, for No. 118832, im. $ ■, July 29, has a few 

 new feathers on the middle of the back and on the scapulars. They soor. 

 extend all over the back, so that specimens collected up to August 10 have 

 many of the new whitish feathers on that region. The contrast is striking 



