Descriptive List 



141 



very inconspicuous bird on the ground, and it is too shy to be approached on foot 

 with any degree of success. The birds are at times so fat that the sidn of the 

 breast will burst when falling to earth l:)eforc the gun. 



The notes of the bird are very penetrating and far-reaching, and it is much 

 oftener heard than seen. The negroes give the names of "Wild Mare " and " Flying 

 Colt" to this bird, from the fancied " whinnying " notes that may be clearly heard 

 falling from aloft, often with no bird in view. It is regarded with some degree 

 of superstition on this account. 



Fig. 103. Upl.\nd Plovee. 



Pearson found no less than six Upland Plovers scattered through the open pine 

 woods of Brunswick County in June, 1898. This, together with one record from 

 Buncombe County, one from Guilford College (1893), and several from the neigh- 

 borhood of Raleigh, are all the definite recorils we have of its occurrence in the 

 State. It may possibly be found to Ijreed sparingly. 



"Upland Plover are no longer found abundant anywhere excepting in the West and South. 



''They have vanished entirely from many of the Eastern fields, but are still fairly abundant 

 in Illinois, the Dakotas, and Indian Territory. Mr. Hough says this bu'd fairly swarms at times 

 on the lower table-lands of Utah and Colorado and overruns Kansas and Nebraska in large flocks ; 

 but they do not decoy regularly enough to warrant the use of decoys, and tlie shooter need not 

 waste time in putting out a flock. In a few instances he shot them over decoys made of dead 

 birds, but could hardly say that they drew in to the flock, nor is it certain that they will pay more 

 than the slightest attention to an imitation of then- whistle. They are especially fond of ground 

 that has recently been burnt over. 



"Before becoming familiar with the gun, these birds, like all others, are quite tame. Coues 

 says he found them so tame in Kansas tliat they were destroyed without the slightest artifice, and 

 that he had seen them just escape being caught with the crack of a coach-whip. Van Dyke, in a 

 magazine article, has given us an interesting account of shooting these birds in standing corn. He 

 killed seventeen liirds in one field, many of the shots being within twenty-five feet, and made one 

 double shot. This is the only instance 1 know of where the Ijii-ds have been walked up and shot at 

 close range. I should have been tempted to buy the fiekl. I doubt if they are to be found any- 

 where today as tame as described by Coues. They learn quickly that man is then- enemy, and the 

 fear becomes, I believe, a matter of instinctive heredity." Huntington's Our Feathered Game. 



Genus Tryngites (Cab.) 



124. Tryngites subruficollis {VieilL). Buff-bbeasted Sandpiper. 



Description. — Upper parts dull grayish buff or brownish, varied with blackish; underparts buff, 

 streaked or speckled on chest witli duskv; under primary coverts and inner webs of quills beauti- 

 fully mottled with dusky on a whitish ground. L., 7.00 to 9.00; W., .5.00 to 5.50. 



