2 2 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 



the upper beach. The Eskimo Curlew and Buff -breasted Sandpiper are both 

 birds of the hills. Both the Greater and the Lesser Yellow-legs, unless they 

 can find a pool left by the tide away from the surf line, are rarely found on the 

 beach. The same is true of the Pectoral Sandpiper, while the Dowitcher with 

 its long bill, typical of the oozy marsh, is more often than these found on the 

 beach. 



The Purple Sandpiper, although a bird of rocky islands, I once found on 

 the beach at Ipswich. The Spotted Sandpiper and Turnstone are both fond 

 of pebbly beaches, but both of these birds, particularly the latter, are also fre- 

 quenters of the sandy shores. The Spotted Sandpiper, however, much as it 

 loves the wet and muddy places in the marsh, appears to prefer on the beach 

 the dry upper parts, where it finds numerous insects. The Hudsonian Curlew, 

 Willet, White-rumped, Red-backed, and Stilt Sandpipers, and Hudsonian God- 

 wit all frequent the beach, although all may be found in the soft mud sloughs of 

 the marshes as well. The sandy-colored Semipalmated Sandpiper is a fre- 

 quenter of the beach, while its browner cousin, the Least Sandpiper, decidedly 

 prefers the marsh, but they visit each other's hunting-grounds at times. Of all 

 beach-loving birds I would place the Knot first, — a typical bird of the sandy 

 shores. The Sanderling or Beach-bird, as its names imply, is also a bird typi- 

 cal of the sandy shore, but it occasionally straggles into the sloughs of the 

 marsh. 



It not infrequently happens that the beaches abound in shore birds in the 

 late evening, but before daybreak are largely deserted ; and although the diurnal 

 migrations of the Limicolee, with the exception of the Woodcock, Wilson's 

 Snipe, and Spotted Sandpiper, are noticeable, it is evident that all may migrate 

 also by night. The lighthouse observations likewise bear this out. 



The Phalaropes are ocean wanderers, but they at times deign to appear like 

 ordinary shore birds walking on the beach. Of other ocean birds the immense 

 flocks of Herring Gulls to be found resting on the beach at Ipswich at all 

 seasons of the year, are most interesting. In the summer when great numbers 

 of dead fish line the beach for miles, the Herring Gulls gather from all about 

 and act the scavenger to good purpose. I have seen a line of these birds 

 at Ipswich extending over 300 measured yards of sand with from 3 to 20 

 or more in a yard. This means from 2000 to 3000 of the birds at a moderate 

 estimate. From the shelter of the grass or a pile of sticks in the sand dunes 

 one may watch these birds for a long time with interest. If shooting were 

 entirely prohibited in this region the birds would no doubt become as tame and 

 as easily studied as the Western Gull on the beaches at San Francisco. As it 

 is now, our Gulls know the carrying power of a gun and keep well out of range. 

 The other Gulls and Terns commonly frequenting this beach region are the 



