178 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



slain in numbers as they fly by the decoys to which they are easily attracted. 

 Their chances are small indeed when the beaches are lined with concealed gun- 

 ners and inviting decoys. After the middle of August, the young birds appear, 

 and are at first very tame, but soon learn the deviltry of man. In 1877, I 

 noted that these birds were in large flocks on Coffin's Beach, but so persecuted 

 by gunners encamped there, that they could not be approached, while on the 

 little beach at Magnolia they were generally quite tame. On the protected 

 Lynn Beach, now a public reservation, the shore birds are learning that they are 

 safe, and even the shyer ones are at times confiding. 



Semipalmated Sandpipers are fascinating birds to watch, whether on the 

 wing, when the flocks twist and turn with military precision like one bird, alter- 

 nately displaying their white breasts and gray backs, or whether busily engaged 

 in feeding on the beach. At such times they occasionally find their small round 

 mouth much out of proportion to the stretch of the end of the bill, and many 

 shakings of the head are needed to get a large morsel past the sticking-point. 

 I have seen one try several times to swallow a large beach flea, and then actually 

 fly off with it in his bill. Their sleep in the day time is taken in short snatches, 

 standing or squatting for a few minutes at a time with bill concealed in the feath- 

 ers of the back, not " under the wing" as in poems. They also stand on one 

 leg, even when both legs are intact, for cripples are common. They seem to 

 yawn by stretching lazily one wing over a leg. They also spread both wings 

 above the back as do many other shore birds, and they flirt their tail nervously 

 from side to side, perhaps shaking the head at the same time. When gleaning 

 food in the shallow water, they sometimes immerse their heads completely. 



Their call note is very much like that of the Least Sandpiper but is shriller 

 and less musical. A harsh rasping note and a peeping note are sometimes heard. 

 A low, rolling, gossipy note is often emitted when they approach other birds. 

 This latter note is often imitated with success by gunners. In the spring, 

 however, the bird is delightfully musical on occasions, and his flight song may 

 be heard on the beach and among the bogs of the dunes. Rising on quivering 

 wings to about thirty feet from the ground, the bird advances with rapid wing 

 beats, curving the pinions strongly downward, pouring forth a succession of 

 musical notes, — a continuous quavering trill, — and ending with a few very 

 sweet notes that recall those of a Goldfinch. He then descends to the ground 

 where one may be lucky enough, if near at hand, to hear a low musical cluck 

 from the e.xcited bird. This is, I suppose, the full love flight-song, and is not 

 often heard in its entirety, but the first quavering trill is not uncommon, a 

 single bird, or a member of a flock singing thus as he flies over. I have seen 

 birds chasing one another on the beach with raised wings, emitting a few quaver- 

 ing notes, and have been reminded of a Long-billed Marsh Wren. I have also 

 heard them emit at this time a sharp grasshopper-like sound. 



