J^ehrasha Ornithologists' Union 67 



single bird in every instance. An adult female taken 

 July 12 showed no ovarian development such as would 

 have been present had she been a breeding individual. 

 At most the species can be considered as a summer resi- 

 dent at this locality. 



28. Bartramia longicauda (Bechstein) — Upland Plover. 



Prom May 17 until August, 1912, I found Upland Plovers 

 at various times in both the Loup and Dismal river valleys 

 as well as scattered over the intervening hills. They were 

 not abundant as I found them to be at Imperial in Chase 

 county ( antea V, p. 41, 1912) but the surroundings are as 

 favorable for the birds as at that locality and with the 

 dimunition of their breeding grounds by the settlement 

 of the land in other places they will in all probability re- 

 tire to just such situations as this country affords. The 

 region is suitable for little but grazing in its present state, 

 and it will not for a long time, if ever, be anything but 

 the endless succession of grass-covered hills and hollows, 

 broken here and there by blowouts and patches of bare 

 sand or by a tiny clump of shrubbery in a pocket — just 

 the sort of territory where these retiring birds thrive best. 

 These plover-like sandpipers are often seen stalking 

 through the grass like the Bob white, and when alarmed 

 fly with rapid wing beats and a clear, whistled, ''whoet'- 



whoet'-whoet'- whoet' ." If a fence post be near 



they may alight upon it or they may circle around in a 

 wide sweep and alight upon the ground but a short dis- 

 tance away. The most characteristic note of the birds is 

 almost indescribable but it may perhaps be represented 



as a long, rolling, "pr-r-r-r-r-r-re-e-e-e-e-e-o-u-u-u-u ," 



the syllables blending into one another in a rising inflec- 

 tion until the climax is reached and then dying away into 

 silence. When heard on a still night from the darkness 

 overhead, the sound is almost uncanny, and even in day- 

 light there is something in the nature of it which seems 

 quite in keeping with the lonely surroundings of these 

 birds. 



29. Tryngites suhruiicoUis (Vieillot) — Buff-breasted Sand- 

 piper. 



A single Buff-breasted Sandpiper was found on the shore 

 of a little sandbar island in the Loup river on September 

 2, 1911, but was too wary to allow itself to be taken. I 



