6 BULLETIN 146, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Behavior.— The solitary sandpiper is always light, graceful, and 

 dainty in all its movements. In spite of the unsavory places in which 

 it often feeds, its trim figure is always neat and clean. In flight it is 

 light and airy as it flits away for a short distance, only to alight 

 again and lift its prettily lined wings high above its back before fold- 

 ing them. It flies higher than the spotted sandpiper and more 

 swiftly, often in a zigzag manner, a trick probably learned by dodg- 

 ing branches in the woods, and the wings are raised well above the 

 body on the upward stroke. 



Walter H. Kich (1907) says: 



There is scarcely anotlier bird which flies with so little apparent effort. 

 His strokes are slow aucl regular, a short sailing between each motion, but he 

 moves very fast. Let him be alarmed and he will quicken his speed until he 

 seems only a black streak in the air, and as he rises to top the surrounding 

 trees it needs good and quick work with the gun to stop him. 



It frequently indulges in a peculiar tilting and nodding habit, 

 similar to that of the spotted sandpiper, but it is more deliberate 

 and not so pronounced ; it seems to be more of a bow than a tip-up 

 more like the bobbing of the yellowlegs. It moves about rather 

 sluggishly, wading in shallow water or even standing motionless, 

 where its colors blend into its dark background and make it diffi- 

 cult to see. If it wades beyond its depth, it swims readily and can 

 even dive to escape its enemies. John T. Nichols says in his notes : 



In feeding it frequently lowers the head with a drilling motion, especially 

 when immersing its bill in the water, apparently probing in the mud at such 

 times, whereas as a rule our tattlers feed by snatching. It frequently stops 

 to scratch its head with one foot. When bathing it ducks and splashes and sits 

 in the water soaking, and at the conclusion of the bath, trips out onto the 

 mud, raises the wings once or twice, and preens itself thoroughly. I have 

 seen a solitary, alighted in a pool on the marsh, preening its feathers without 

 dipping its bill in the water, and am not aware whether it has this bill-dipping 

 habit common with some of its relatives. 



Harrison F. Lewis has sent me the following notes on the rather 

 peculiar behavior of a solitary sandpiper which he watched for some 

 time: 



The sandpiper, which was well aware that I was watching it, stepped 

 slowly out onto the open surface of the mud of the bog, and, standing there 

 with its left side toward me, repeated several times the following curious 

 actions. It spread its wings about halfway, holding them stiffly in the plane 

 of its back, neither raised nor lowered, so that the dark markings on its 

 axillards were slightly visible. At the same time it drew its head as far back- 

 ward and its tail as far forward over its back as possible, and slowly lowered 

 its breast until it almost seemed to touch the mud. After remaining rigid 

 in this position for 10 to 15 seconds, it would suddenly relax and become its 

 aormal self, only to repeat the entire procedure almost immediately. I could 

 think of no purpose for these actions, unless they were an attempt at con- 

 cealment by making the bird's outlines and colors as unlike as possible to 



