238 Nichols and Harper, Long Island Shore Birds. [j^ 



the old-time gunners, has been so decimated that now each occur- 

 rence is worthy of note. The Eskimo Curlew is a bird of the island's 

 past, and the Golden Plover bids fair to share its fate. The merest 

 remnant of Bartramian Sandpipers yet keeps a foothold at the 

 extreme eastern end of the island. Certain other species, however, 

 have fared much better, and probably a few have not shown any 

 considerable decrease in the past quarter of a century. Large 

 flocks of Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers are still common 

 sights, and even so persistently sought a species as the Greater 

 Yellowlegs has survived in goodly numbers. Apparently the 

 recent agitation for wild-life conservation has already begun to 

 have an effect toward restoring the numbers of our shore birds. 



For a number of seasons past we have been able to give consider- 

 able attention to the Limicolfc occurring on the marshes and beaches 

 along the south side of Long Island. Most of these are migrants, 

 which generally hurry past, sometimes flying so high in the air as 

 to escape notice. When they do alight to feed on some favorable 

 spot, they are often extremely wary and difficult of approach ; yet 

 if one adopts the regular gunner's method, building a blind of 

 bushes for himself, and luring the birds with a flock of decoys 

 planted on sticks, he may find that not only do a surprising num- 

 ber of visitors come, but that some of them are very tame. 



The type of blind varies with the nature of the ground and the 

 materials available. On the beach one may scoop out a pit in the 

 sand and build up its ramparts with stranded boxes, logs, or sticks 

 (Plate VII). At a pool on the salt marshes the high-tide bushes 

 (Iva or aria), whose green leaves match the color of the surrounding 

 marsh-grass (Spartina), make the best sort of blind (Plate IX). 

 They are stuck upright into the soft ground in the form of a more 

 or less complete circle, within which the hunter sits. Bayberry 

 bushes (Myrica carolinensis) furnish a closer cover, but are more 

 conspicuous, and therefore less suitable, than the high-tide bushes. 

 Drifted eel-grass and dead stems of marsh-grass are useful for 

 filling gaps in a scanty blind. Occasionally a gunner may sit 

 behind a mere screen of cloth, but a photographer requires a less 

 conspicuous affair and better concealment for work at closer range. 

 The decoys, which are made of tin, wood, or even cardboard, are 

 known on Long Island as ' stool.' The arrangement of the stool 



