SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER 251 



note is often emitted when they approach other birds or decoys, a 

 note that used to be imitated with deadly effect by gunners. John T. 

 Nichols (1920) says: 



The flight note of the seniipalmated sandpiper is a rather loud " cherk," 

 softer and less reedy than the analogous krieker " kerr." It is commonly 

 modified to a softer li cher " or " ehe," which with much variation becomes the 

 conversational twittering of members of a feeding flock. Soft short, snappy 

 " chips " are characteristic of flocks maneuvering about decoys * * *. 

 Hurried cboeping notes (" ki-i-ip") on being flushed, are suggestive of the same 

 note of the krieker. 



Field marks. — These have been discussed at length under least 

 sandpiper to which the reader is referred, but may be summed up 

 here as follows : a little larger than the least sandpiper, grayer, bill 

 stouter and straight, tarsi and feet black, semipalmated. The 

 young can be distinguished from the old in the field by their nearly 

 white breasts washed with a smoky tint. In the hand their tarsi are 

 seen to be black with a slight greenish hue. 



Game. — The fact that so many of these birds could be easily killed 

 at one shot, and the fact that they were so fat and palatable broiled 

 or cooked in a pie, made them always much sought after by the pot 

 hunter. As large shore birds grew scarcer and it became more and 

 more difficult for the gunner to fill his bag with them, " peep " shoot- 

 ing, even by sportsmen, was in vogue. The Federal law has now 

 wisely removed this species from the list of game birds and prevented 

 its extinction. The bird has responded to this protection in a marked 

 degree, and flocks of 500 or more are common and pleasing sights on 

 our beaches where one-tenth of this number was once rare. 



The shooting of semipalmated sandpipers occurred largely on the 

 beaches. The gunner dug a hole in the sand, banked it up, and put 

 brush and driftwood, often reinforced with seaweed, on the ram- 

 parts. At a convenient distance decoys of wood or tin were placed, 

 arranged like a flock of birds: with their heads pointing to the wind. 

 Occasionally large clamshells were stuck in the sand, simulating 

 very well a flock of peep. Much depended on the skill of the gunner 

 in calling down the birds as they flew along, by cunningly imitating 

 their notes and by his care in keeping concealed and motionless 

 until the moment that he delivered his fire. To bring down a score 

 of birds from a closely packed flock required but little skill, where, 

 to pick off a single peep, flying erratically and swiftly by, called 

 for well-seasoned judgment; but the chances for these birds were 

 small indeed when the beaches were lined with inviting decoys and 

 concealed whistling gunners. 



Fall. — On the New England coast the semipalmated sandpiper 

 is a little later in migration than its colleague, the least sandpiper. 



