THE IPSWICH SPARROW. I 7 



would be heard. The uproar occasioned by the invasion of their colonies 

 was augmented by every bird within call of its fellow. Although the dif- 

 ferent species usually selected difierent parts of the beach for nesting 

 grounds, the multitude of birds in the air seemed to preclude the proper 

 identification of the eggs. But on Sable Island, just as I have found it 

 to be elsewhere, and contrary to the statements of other observers, it is 

 perfectly possible, with sufficient time at one's disposal, eventually to mark 

 down individual birds on their nests and, when they are disturbed, to follow 

 them with the eye throughout the mazes of the hovering hordes. 



The presence of the Semipalmated Plover or Ringneck, breeding abun- 

 dantly, was one of the many surprises that awaited me on this interesting 

 island. The nearest locality at which it has recently been recorded as 

 breeding is the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.^ However, 

 Dr. Gilpin in 1858 wrote as Ibllows : " Ringneck {Ckuradriiis Torticollis) 

 and Peeps (Tringa niintita) were breeding in numbers. ..." " Torti- 

 collis'' a curious confounding with ' wry-neck,' of course refers to two 

 species, but the reference to the Least Sandpiper is certainly a valid record 

 of fact. The nests of the Semipalmated Plover were little more than hollows 

 in the sand, carelessly lined with a few scraps of eel-grass or bits of dry grass, 

 and were placed, without the least attempt at concealment, in all kinds of 

 places, the sandier, more barren situations being usually chosen. A favorite 

 site was among the fringe of drift cast up on the shore of the lagoon, where 

 the eggs harmonized marvelously with their surroundings, and were easily 

 overlooked. The bird leaves the nest the moment an intruder is spied. 



To my surprise, I find that there is no intimation by those who have met 

 with this species in its northern haunts that it has any love song. As a 

 matter of fact the male sings frequently and loudly, though not very musi- 

 cally. The liquid sweetness of the well-known call-note is lacking, and 

 there is some suggestion of the how-kow notes of the Black-billed Cuckoo. 

 The song consists of a rather harsh, resonant tschiq), monotonously 

 repeated over and over at the rate of about forty times per minute, and ex- 

 tending over a period of four or five minutes. During its execution the 

 bird sweeps erratically hither and thither, near the ground, with slowly 

 flapping wings that are momentarily held extended straight up above the 

 body. The flight is most suggestive of that of the Nighthawk, and, like the 

 song, it is not at all what one might expect from acquaintance with the 

 birds during their migrations. On Sable Island they are known as 

 ' Black Ringnecks,' to distinguish them from the ' White Ringnecks,' as 

 the Belted Piping Plovers are called. 



'Bishop, Auk, VI, 1889, 147. 



