THE IPSWICH SPARROW. yy] 
would be heard. The uproar occasioned by the invasion of their colonies 
was augmented by every bird within call of its fellow. Although the dif- 
ferent species usually selected different parts of the beach for nesting 
grounds, the multitude of birds in the air seemed to preclude the proper 
identification of the eggs. But on Sable Island, just as I have found it 
to be elsewhere, and contrary to the statements of other observers, it is 
perfectly possible, with sufficient time at one’s disposal, eventually to mark 
down individual birds on their nests and, when they are disturbed, to follow 
them with the eye throughout the mazes of the hovering hordes. 
The presence of the Semipalmated Plover or Ringneck, breeding abun- 
dantly, was one of the many surprises that awaited me on this interesting 
island. The nearest locality at which it has recently been recorded as 
breeding is the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.!_ However, 
Dr. Gilpin in 1858 wrote as follows: ‘* Ringneck (Charadrius Torticollis) 
and Peeps ( Zrznga minuta) were breeding in numbers. .. .” ‘* Tortz- 
collzs,” a curious confounding with ‘wry-neck,’ of course refers to two 
species, but the reference to the Least Sandpiper is certainly a valid record 
of fact. The nests of the Semipalmated Plover were little more than hollows 
in the sand, carelessly lined with a few scraps of eel-grass or bits of dry grass, 
and were placed, without the least attempt at concealment, in all kinds of 
places, the sandier, more barren situations being usually chosen. A favorite 
site was among the fringe of drift cast up on the shore of the lagoon, where 
the eggs harmonized marvelously with their surroundings, and were easily 
overlooked. The bird leaves the nest the moment an intruder is spied. 
To my surprise, I find that there is no intimation by those who have met 
with this species in its northern haunts that it has any love song. Asa 
matter of fact the male sings frequently and loudly, though not very musi- 
cally. The liquid sweetness of the well-known call-note is lacking, and 
there is some suggestion of the kow-kow notes of the Black-billed Cuckoo. 
The song consists of a rather harsh, resonant ¢schip, monotonously 
repeated over and over at the rate of about forty times per minute, and ex- 
tending over a period of four or five minutes. During its execution the 
bird sweeps erratically hither and thither, near the ground, with slowly 
flapping wings that are momentarily held extended straight up above the 
body. The flight is most suggestive of that of the Nighthawk, and, like the 
song, it is not at all what one might expect from acquaintance with the 
birds during their migrations. On Sable Island they are known as 
‘Black Ringnecks,’ to distinguish them from the ‘ White Ringnecks,’ as 
the Belted Piping Plovers are called. 
1 Bishop, Auk, VI, 1889, 147. 
