242 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



note of the young semipalniated sandpiper. As far as my observations went, 

 there was no attempt on the part of the parent to feed the young, and it is 

 my belief that from the time they are hatched the young spoonbills hunt their 

 own food. The exercise thus gained was found in the ease of young semi- 

 palmated sandpipers to be essential to the health of the chicks. In addition 

 to keeping warm by running about the young spoonbills are hovered and warmed 

 at regular intervals by the parent. The brood mentioned above had survived 

 a fairly severe snowstorm on the preceding day. 



Plumages. — The most remarkable thing about the downy young 

 spoonbill sandpiper is the well developed spoon-shaped bill, even 

 when first hatched. As will be seen by referring to Colonel Thayer's 

 (1911) excellent colored plate, this is much shorter than the adult 

 bill and the spatulate tip is more oval. The crown, back, rump, 

 wings, and thighs are variegated with black, white, " ochraceous 

 tawny " and paler buffs, dotted with white terminal tufts on the 

 head, which form two wdiite stripes from the eyes to the nape, and 

 dotted with both white and buff tufts on the back and rump ; the fore- 

 head, a superciliary stripe, the sides of the head, the throat, and the 

 neck are " w^arm buff " ; the rest of the under parts are white ; a 

 median frontal stripe, a loral stripe, and a malar spot are black. 



The juvenal plumage I have never seen. Birds collected on the 

 southward migration are apparently all in winter plumages; young 

 birds are distinguishable from adults at this age. For descriptions 

 of first winter and subsequent plumages I would refer the reader to 

 Bidgway's Birds of North and Middle America. I have not studied 

 sufficient material to work out the seasonal molts, but they are ap- 

 parently similar to those of other small sandpipers of the genus 

 Pisobia. 



Food. — The food of the spoonbill sandpiper seems not to have 

 been definitely determined, but Mr. Dixon (1918) watched a pair 

 feeding, of which he says: 



Our observations disclosed no peculiar advantage attending the singular 

 shape of this sandpiper's bill, though careful watch was kept to see just how 

 this member was used. On July 17, 1913, a pair of spoon-billed sandpipers 

 was watched for half an hour as the two birds fed within 50 feet of the 

 observer, concealed behind a sandy dune. Their favorite feeding ground was 

 a fresh-water pond with a fringe of green algae about the sandy border. 

 Under these conditions the birds used their bills, as any other sandpipers 

 would, as probes to pick out insects or larvae from the algae. Occasionally 

 one would hesitate a moment, when the vascular tip of the mandible quivered 

 slightly as though the bird were straining something out of the green algae. 

 At this time the bill was held at nearly right angles to the surface of the 

 water ; it was never used as a scoop along the surface. 



Behavior. — I must again quote from Mr. Dixon (1918), who has 

 furnished most of our information about this little known species. 

 Referring to behavior and recognition marks he writes : 



