2 SCOLOPACID^. 



portions of the country. In Texas, I am told, it occurs in flocks ' of thousands.' 

 In Kansas, during the month of May, it migrates in great numbers, being 

 scattered over the prairies everywhere, and it is so tame that it may be destroyed 

 without the slightest artifice ; I have seen it just escape being caught with the 

 crack of a coach-whip. Passing northward, it enters Dakota, Iowa, and Minnesota 

 the same month. About the middle of May it reaches the latitude of Fort 

 Randall, with great numbers of Golden Plover and Esquimaux Curlew, flecking 

 the prairies everywhere. Its breeding habits may be studied with perfect success 

 in Northern Dakota, where it is the most abundant of all the waders. We can 

 scarcely cross a piece of prairie, or travel a mile along the roads anyAvhere, without 

 seeing it. Its gentle and unsuspicious ways, its slender and graceful shape, and 

 the beauty of its markings, are all alike attractive, while the excellence of its 

 flesh is another point not less interesting, but less favorable for the bird. Too 

 many are destroyed at this season when they are pairing, for few can resist the 

 tempting shots, as the birds step along the road-side or stand erect in the scanty 

 grass, gazing at the passing vehicle with misplaced confidence. By the end of 

 May those that are to breed further north have passed on, while the remainder 

 have paired and are about to nest. 



" As soon as they are mated the pairs keep close company, being rarely 

 beyond each other's call, and are oftenest seen rambling together through the 

 grass. At such times they seem very slender, as indeed they are, overtopping 

 the scanty herbage with their long, thin necks, sw^aying continually in graceful 

 motion. Their ordinary note at this, as at other seasons, is a long-drawn, soft, 

 mellow whistle, of a peculiarly clear, resonant quality ; but besides this, they have 

 a note peculiar, I believe, to this period of their lives. This is a very loud, 

 prolonged cry, sounding more like the whistling of the wind than a bird's voice ; 

 the wild sound, which is strangely mournful, is generally uttered Avhen the bird, 

 just alighted, holds its wings for a moment perpendicularly, before adjusting them 

 over its back. It is frequently heard in the night, all through the breeding 

 season, and is, I think, one of the most remarkable outcries I ever heard. There 

 is yet another note that the Tattler utters, chiefly when disturbed breeding ; this 

 is a harsh scream, quickly and often repeated, much like that given by other 

 waders under the same circumstances. 



" In Northern Dakota the eggs are mostly laid by the second week in June ; 

 the time is quite constant ; and, so far as I know, only one brood is raised each 

 year. The nest, like that of other birds breeding on the open prairie, is hard to 

 find, as there is nothing whatever to guide a search, and the herbage of the 

 prairie, flimsy as it usually is at this season, is sufl[icient to hide the variegated 



