^^^16 J Nichols and Harper, Long Island Shore Birds. 253 



The Ringneck, one of the most daintily di-essed and most charming of the 

 Long Island shore birds, is also one of our most familiar species, being 

 exceeded in numbers only by the Least and Semipalmated Sandpipers. 

 A regular and very common migrant, it is present usually throughout most 

 of the month of May, and from late July to the first week in October. 

 Extreme dates for the spring migration are April 19 and June 5 (Eaton); 

 for the fall migi-ation, July 6 (Orient, Latham) and October 22, 1912 

 (Eaet Hampton, W. Helmuth). On the southward flight it does not 

 become common before the first week in August, when flocks of consider- 

 able size may be seen. 



This is essentially a bird of the mud-flats, just as the Piping Plover is a 

 bii'd of the sandy outer beaches. And here is an interesting correlation 

 between plumage and habitat in two closely allied species, the Ringneck's 

 brown back harmonizing with the dark color of the mud, while the Piping 

 Plover's pale plumage renders it inconspicuous on the bright sands. The 

 Ringneck is not given to wading, but feeds along the borders of quiet tidal 

 channels, on the bars and margins of pools in the salt marshes, as well as 

 on the drier, stubbly portions of the marshes, and even occasionally on the 

 outer beach. 



It associates freely with the two common species of Oxriyes one or more 

 of the plovers often being seen in a flock of these small snipe; it is also 

 found commonly in the company of the larger shore birds. t\.t other times, 

 it travels in separate bands of three or four to twenty-five or thirty individ- 

 uals. The members of a flock scatter somewhat in feeding, but on taking 

 wing, they gather into close ranks, their bright under parts showing con- 

 spicuously as the flock wheels over the marsh. 



The Ringneck is not very wild, nor yet as trustful as an Oxeye, l)ut, on 

 the whole, it much prefers to keep a fair distance between itself and a 

 human being. At nightfall, however, it sometimes permits a close ap- 

 proach, as it runs restlessly about the shore and gives its piping notes. 

 Generally, at the appearance of an intruder, or on other occasions when its 

 suspicions are aroused, it bobs its head in a mildly inquiring way. Decoys 

 do not have the same attraction for this bird as for a Yellowlegs or an 

 Oxeye. When it does come to stool, it may hover for a moment, or even 

 alight, but usually passes by without stopping. Perhaps this is accounted 

 for, in part, by the fact that the decoys in most cases are set out in several 

 inches of water, and the Ringneck therefore finds no suitable place for 

 alighting near them. 



Its flight is strong and direct — much less erratic or meandering than 

 that of an Oxeye. Its movements on the ground are not very rapid, and 

 suggest somewhat those of a Robin; it stands quietly on a mud-bar, facing 

 the wind, its head bent slightly forward with an intent air, then it trots 

 forward a few steps, and stops to look about again for a morsel of food. 

 Its legs do not seem to move with the twinkling rapidity of a Piping 

 Plover's, for the mud-flats are less suitable for fast traveling than are the 

 smooth sands over which the latter habitually runs. 



