BIRDS OF 



again visited and two more were obtained, but on two subse- 

 quent visits made within a day or two no more were 3een, 

 Those who are observant of the migratory movements of the 

 birds must have been often astonished to see with what per- 

 sistent regularity certain birds appear at certain places at a 

 given time. In the present instance these are the only birds of 

 the kind we have ever seen or heard of in Ontario, yet they 

 were all found within a few yards of the same spot, and within 

 ten days of the same date in different years. 



94. TRINGA MINUTILLA VIEILL. 242. 



Least Sandpiper. 



Upper parts in summef with each feather blackish centrally, edged with 

 bright bay, and tipped with ashy or white ; in winter and in the young simply 

 ashy ; tail feathers gray with whitish edges, the central blackish, usually 

 with reddish edges, crown not conspicuously different from hind neck ; 

 chestnut edgings of scapulars usually scalloped ; below white, the jugulum 

 with dusky streaks and an ashy or brownish suffusion ; bill black ; legs dusky 

 greenish, Smallest of the Sandpipers ; length, 5^-6 inches ; wing, 3^-3^ ; 

 tail, 2 or less ; bill, tarsus and middle toe with claw, about f . 



HAB. Whole of North and South America, breeding north of the United 

 States. Accidental in Europe. 



The appearance of this, the smallest of the Sandpipers, 

 always excites a feeling of pity as he is seen hurrying along the 

 sand in rear of his big brothers, uttering his feeble "peep" as 

 if begging them to leave a little for him. 



In Ontario it is a common species, found in all suitable 

 places in spring and fall, but its breeding ground is far north, 

 and little, if anything, is known of its nest or eggs. Some might 

 say that is a matter of no consequence ; here is what Dr. Coues 

 says about it in his Birds of the Northwest : " Fogs hang low 

 and heavy over rock-girdled Labrador. Angry waves, palled 

 with rage, exhaust themselves to encroach upon the stern 

 shores, and sink back howling into the depths. Winds shriek 

 as they course from crag to crag in mad career, till the humble 

 mosses that clothe the rocks crouch lower still in fear. Over- 

 head the Sea Gulls scream as they winnow, and the Murres all 



98 



