SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 8 1 



frequently washed by the waves which they follow as eagerly as Sanderlings, but 

 instead of retreating by running as the latter bird generally does on the beach, 

 they flutter up the steep rocks partly in and partly out of the water. 



On the wing they resemble other sandpipers, flying in compact flocks, often 

 close to the water and turning swiftly from side to side. 



No mention was made in the original Memoir of the call of this bird. I have 

 since recorded it as a sweet but rather squeaky chip, and in a huddled flock low 

 conversational chippings are frequently heard. 



I have also noticed that the 1)ill is slightly decurved. The yellow base of the 

 bill is a noticeable feature either in profile or in front view. 



107 [239] Pisobia maculata (Vieill.). 



Pectoral Sandpiper; "Grass-bird''; "Brown-back." 



Very rare spring, common and at times abundant autumn transient visitor. 

 May 23, 24; July 15 to November 6. 



On May 23, 1908, Mr. C. J. Maynard saw several Pectoral Sandpipers at 

 Clark's Pond; on May 24, 1912, Mrs. Edmund Bridge found two at Eagle Hill. 

 These are the only spring records I have for this bird. 



On September 29, 1918, I made a careful study of a flock of fifteen or twenty 

 of these birds in the salt-marshes near my house. Their behavior was character- 

 istic. Flying in a compact bunch they swung in response to my whistle within easy 

 gunshot of me, as I stood unconcealed. Alighting suddenly, they became invisible 

 in the short grass, through and under which they ran, spreading out in all direc- 

 tions. Occasionally several would stand still and stretch their necks above the 

 grass and look about, but it required close attention to see them. They kept to 

 the cover of the grass and avoided the bare muddy sloughs preferred by other 

 shore-birds of the marsh. The name " Grass-bird " fits them well. They did not 

 flush until I was within a few yards of them and they rose a few at a time uttering 

 either the alarm note, a rasping krick, or the sweet rolling or trilling whistle much 

 like that of the Least Sandpiper. After flushing some of the flock I nearly stepped 

 on others before they rose. 



That the Grass-bird looks like " a large Least Sandpiper " is carried out even 

 to the slight decurving of the bill as in that species. Although not a brilliantly 

 colored or marked bird, its well-shaded and spotted neck and breast, and deli- 

 cately pencilled back, with feathers bordered with white and bufl^, make it very 

 attractive. While the tarsi of the adult males are straw-colored, those of the 

 females and young have a greenish-yellow hue. 

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