414 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



From the Spotted Sandpiper, which the Solitary Sandpiper most 

 closely resembles in choice of surroundings, the latter species may 

 be distinguished by the fact that it is about one-third larger in size, 

 that it possesses more sharply barred outer tail feathers and a brown 

 streaked area on the throat, and that it has no rounded dark spots 

 on its white under surface, and no white wing bar. Its very slender 

 bill, the brown, unstreaked back, the lack of a white bar on the wing, 

 and the distinct barring on the outer tail feathers, in combination will 

 serve to distinguish this species from such birds as the Pectoral, Baird 

 and Red-backed sandpipers. From all the plovers the Solitary Sand- 

 piper may be distinguished at once by the slender bill. 



The following three paragraphs relating to certain mannerisms of 

 the Solitary Sandpiper show some differences of interpretation on the 

 part of the observers, but in the main supplement one another so as to 

 give the reader a correct general conception of the bird. 



These birds . . . wade about in the mud and water, chasing with open 

 wings, or probing for, and feeding upon the minute mollusks, worms and 

 various forms of aquatic insect life that abound in such places. They have a 

 peculiar way of balancing the body, by bending the knees, jerking the tail, 

 and bowing the head, much like the Spotted Sandpiper, but in a slower and 

 more dignified manner. . . . Notwithstanding they are tattlers by name, [they] 

 differ from the family by being usually silent, seldom uttering their low, 

 whistling notes except when startled or about to take wing. ... As a rule 

 the birds are not shy, and, when followed, run in an unconcerned manner along 

 the shore, or by short flights keep a little ahead, or return to the starting 

 point by circling back close to or over the water (Goss, 1891, p. 193, referring 

 probably to the eastern subspecies). 



When flushed it usually flies with unexpected swiftness, rises at a sharp 

 angle to a height of several hundred feet, and then flies wildly for a moment 

 or two, and often returns and alights near the place from which it started. 

 Almost invariably it utters a sharp whistle of three or four notes as it rises, 

 not particularly loud, but high-pitched, penetrating, and very characteristic. 

 While feeding it runs about and bobs its head and tail somewhat like a 

 [Spotted Sandpiper] . . . , but the movements are much more abrupt and 

 jerky, and there is far less of the graceful swinging motion so prettily shown 

 by that bird. Often when standing quietly otherwise it will jerk its head 

 and body stiffly upward and back again, precisely as if moved by a hic-cough 

 (Barrows, 1912, pp. 194-195, writing of the eastern subspecies). 



In the fall, on its return from the north, it has a habit of wading into 

 the water in stagnant ditches or ponds, where it advances one foot at a time, 

 and by rapidly moving the forward foot stirs up the vegetation at the bottom 

 ever so slightly. This motion is so swift and delicate that the leg seems to 

 be merely trembling, as if the bird were chilled by contact with the water, 

 but it is done with intent to disturb insects among the algae at the bottom 

 without roiling the water, and the eager bird, leaning forward, plunges in its 

 bill and head, sometimes to the eyes, and catches the alarmed water insects 

 as they dart away. I have watched this carefully with a glass while lying 

 in the grass only ten or twelve feet from the bird. It is easy by stirring 

 the bottom slightly with a stick to cause a similar movement of the water 



