184 BRITISH BIRDS' EGGS. 



throughout the United States, to Mexico, in all which coun- 

 tries it is common. Erom Mr. Tan-ell's second Supplement 

 we add the following particulars : " Wilson, who is consi- 

 dered to be the discoverer and first describer of this species, 

 which he dedicated by name to his venerable friend Bar- 

 tram, near whose botanic gardens, on the banks of the river 

 Schuylkill, he first found it, says of it, ' Unlike most of their 

 tribe, these birds appeared to prefer running about among 

 the grass, feeding on beetles and other winged insects. 

 Never having met with them on the sea-shore, I am per- 

 suaded that their principal residence is in the interior, in 

 meadows and such-like places. They run with great rapidity, 

 sometimes spreading their tail and dropping their wings, as 

 birds do who wish to decoy you from their nest ; when they 

 alight, they remain fixed, stand very erect, and give two or 

 three sharp whistling notes as they mount to fly/ 



' ' Audubon did not observe this species in Newfoundland 

 or Labrador, but records it as found as far south as Mexico, 

 in the western prairies on either side of the Missouri, in 

 different parts of Pennsylvania, and as far eastward as the 

 confines of Maine. It appeared to be partial to frequenting 

 newly-ploughed lands, and its food, varied with the district, 

 consisted of grasshoppers, beetles, seeds, and wild straw- 



