BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 353 



of my Massachusetts correspondents report an increase of this 

 species in their locaHties, while seventy-one report a decrease. 



It formerly was very abundant and familiar all along the 

 coast of New England. Usually a pair or a few pairs are now 

 seen together or associated with the smaller Sandpipers. 

 Sometimes as many as forty or fifty are seen in a flock, flying 

 in loose order, though occasionally they move more com- 

 pactly. At such times the fortunate gunner makes a "killing." 

 When they alight they usually scatter and run about with 

 their heads up, occasionally bobbing their heads or snatching 

 up some food. Sometimes at high tide they may be found 

 huddled together above high-water mark fast asleep, with 

 heads drawn in, although some are usually on the watch. 

 They frequent sandy or pebbly shores, bared by the flowing 

 tide, and may be seen singly, in pairs or in small flocks on salt 

 marshes and mud flats. 



Ordinarily this Plover is a rather silent bird, unless alarmed, 

 and stands quietly when approached, but runs so swiftly 

 when apprehensive of danger that it seems almost to glide 

 over the ground. It is quite an adept at concealment, and 

 when hidden behind a few stalks of grass it is almost invisible. 

 When standing or squatting on the wet sand or among wet 

 rocks its color so perfectly matches its surroundings that the 

 eye hardly can find it. 



Dr. Brewer says that a few Semipalmated Plovers have 

 been known to summer and probably to breed on Grand 

 Manan ; but I know of no recent instance of the summering of 

 this species in New England. 



Its food on the coast consists largely of small Crustacea, 

 mollusks, eggs of marine animals, and insects, which it some- 

 times gleans from ploughed fields. In the interior it feeds on 

 locusts, other Orthoptera and many other terrestrial insects. 

 Professor Aughey examined the stomach contents of eleven 

 Ring-necks taken in four counties of Nebraska between April, 

 1865, and July, 1875, and found all of them filled with insects. 

 Eight stomachs contained from forty to sixty Rocky Moun- 

 tain locusts each, and in all but one of the eleven there were 

 other insects. 



