546 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



years ago (1838) this bird was recorded by Dr. J. P. Kirtland as a 

 common visitor, doubtless breeding, on the shores of Lake Erie in 

 Ohio {^American Journal Science and Arts, XL., 1841, 24), but there 

 is no recent evidence to substantiate this statement, and the species is 

 certainly rare enough at the present time so far north in the interior. 

 75. Bartramia longicauda. Bartramian Sandpiper. 



The writer has never met with the present species in this locality, but 

 Mr. Bacon's very full notes admirably supply the deficiency. "This 

 interesting species must be put down as a migrant, rather common in 

 the fall, less numerous in the spring, and of occasional occurrence as 

 a summer resident. Some seasons, as for instance in 1899, it has 

 been quite common in certain localities which it frequents. I have 

 spent many afternoons in the pursuit of these birds, and have con- 

 cluded that more can be found on a couple of square miles of pasture 

 and farm land, just west of the city of Erie, than in all the remainder 

 of the county. From my own knowledge of the county, and from 

 information given by others, I am led to believe that this bird seldom 

 stops, save on the lake shore plain. Thus, I have never seen one on 

 the Peninsula, and never expect to, for it is a bird of the pastures and 

 clover fields. During spring migrations I scarcely ever see more than 

 one or two pairs, but by July 15, or soon thereafter, I always find a 

 bunch of young birds on their way south, perhaps half a dozen, per- 

 haps two dozen, and, if it happens to be a favorable season, their num- 

 bers are soon augmented. It would seem to be the case that a rainy 

 summer with a luxurious growth of weeds and grasses brings but few 

 Bartramian Sandpipers, but let it be hot and dry, with the stubble 

 short, and grasshoppers by the million, then they may be expected in 

 abundance. On June 20, 1S97, at Miles Grove, I saw a bird of this 

 species which acted unmistakably the part of a female with young, 

 flying from side to side along a road lined with grain fields, and oc- 

 casionally alighting within a few yards of me. On June 25, 1899, I 

 saw a single bird, and on May 21, 1890, I saw several, while a female 

 taken May 9, 1900, was nearly ready to nest, so that I think an occa- 

 sional brood is raised in the vicinity of Erie also. One day while 

 watching a flock take their usual dive preparatory to alighting, I saw 

 one of them strike a telegraph Avire, cutting both his neck and his 

 existence off short. My records of the vernal appearance of this spe- 

 cies lie between April 11 (1896) and May i (1897), while the latest 

 fall date appears to be September 22, 1896." This species has, how- 



