that are as clearly songs as the notes of a rooin. Some of the songs 
of these birds are harsh, and others grotesque, but there are no mutes 
in this great congregation. The golden plovers, admirable in their 
handsome breeding-dress, utter an extraordinarily plaintive and mu¬ 
sical series of notes. They stand like beautiful statuettes on the 
tundra as they give their song, sometimes several times in succes¬ 
sion from the same spot before moving on. 
One of the most interesting songsters among the waders is the 
western semipalmated sandpiper, which is present along this coast 
in great abundance. As the snow disappears from the low ground 
about the 10th or 15th of May, and every pond, still covered with 
ice, is bordered by a ring of water, these gentle birds arrive on the 
tundras of the Yukon Delta and Norton Sound. By the end of the 
month they are extremely numerous, and their gentleness and trust¬ 
ing behavior render them very attractive. Among the many pretty 
bird-romances going on at this time none is more charming than 
the courtships of these delicate sandpipers. They forsake the borders 
of icy pools and scatter in twos and threes over the tundra, choosing 
dry knolls and tussock-covered areas. Here they trip daintily over 
the moss, in and out among tufts of grass, never showing the pug¬ 
nacity so common among some species at this time. The female 
modestly avoids the male as he pays his homage by running to and 
fro before her to show his tiny form to best advantage. At times 
his heart beats high with pride and he trails his wings, elevates and 
partly spreads his tail, and struts before his charmer with all the 
pompous vanity of a pygmy turkey-cock. Again, filled with rapture, 
the sanguine lover springs from the earth, rises ten or fifteen yards on 
vibrating wings, and poising in mid-air hovers for nearly a minute 
in the same spot, while he pours forth a series of musical trills that 
vary in intensity and produce pleasant cadences. During this song 
the performer’s wings vibrate so rapidly they appear to keep time 
with the trilling notes, which may be likened to the running down 
of a small spring, producing a fine, high-pitched, buzzing or whir¬ 
ring note. As the song ends the bird raises its wings high over its 
back in a V-shaped form, and floats slowly to the ground, at the same 
time uttering a deeper and richer, or more throaty, trill, ending as 
the ground is reached. These sandpipers have also a variety of low, 
happy, twittering notes, addressed by the male to the female, and 
also heard when he is feeding. The females are usually devoted 
mothers, and are often astonishingly fearless in staying by their eggs 
or young when danger threatens, at the same time uttering low 
plaintive notes of alarm. 
39 
