60 Bird- Life in Labrador. 



RUDDY PLOVER SANDERLING 



Odidris arcnaria. — (Ij.) Ti.i.ki. 



This is another characteristic hircl of the Labrador :narshy 

 and sandv h)\v tide flats, thougli tlie specimens that I saw- 

 preferred mostly the sandy beaclies at high tide. Tliey are 

 seen everywhere along the coast, thoiioh they are much more 

 wild than the usual run of beacii birds, and generally fly in 

 much smaller flocks which do not seem so re::diiy to break up 

 into families or flocks, but fly closer together and kee]) to- 

 gether most of if not all the time. Now and then a solitary 

 individual would be seen flying or ])icking uj) food in company 

 with many of the other species of sandpipers, but for tlie most 

 ])art thev were alone. I saw numbers ol'them during my stay 

 on the coast, but seldom many at a time, They were very 

 wild and hard to approach, and kcjit (piite close together in 

 small flocks of from ten to thirty ; their flight is wilder and 

 their call difl'crent from that of the other birds with which 

 they associated. I found them very j)lump and fat, and, be- 

 ing larger, much better eating than the majority of the sn)all 

 shore birds. 



HUDSONIAN GODWIT 



IJni'j.sa /laiiia-sflca. — (Linn., 17o<S). 



TiiuiJSDAY, Sei)tember 10, was a red-letter day to me in the 

 bird line, deferring to the notes again they say : To-day I 

 succeeded in obtaining a sjiecimcn of the Jyimo-sit /i(riii(tsfica, 

 the Hudsonian or black-tailed godwit, also called the ring- 

 tailed marlin. It is a rare bird even in these regions, and 

 was the (Uily one I obtained on the coast. It was at the time 

 flying rather high up in the air and with the irregular flight of 

 the Sj)Otted sandpiper. Its note, uttered while in the air^ 

 sounded more like the s<jeak of a mou>e than any thing else I 

 can name. From its raritv I give tlu' dimension.s as I took 



