that are as clearly songs as the notes of a robin. Some of the songs 

 of these birds are harsh, and others grotesque, but there are no mutes 

 in this great congregation. The golden plovers, admirable in their 

 handsome breeding-dress, utter an extraordinarily plaintive and mu- 

 sical series of notes. They stand like beautiful statuettes on the 

 tundra as they give their song, sometimes several times in succes- 

 sion from the same spot before moving on. 



One of the most interesting songsters among the waders is the 

 western semipalmated sandpiper, which is present along this coast 

 in great abundance. As the snow disappears from the low ground 

 about the 10th or 15th of May, and every pond, still covered with 

 ice, is bordered by a ring of water, these gentle birds arrive on the 

 tundras of the Yukon Delta and Norton Sound. By the end of the 

 month they are extremely numerous, and their gentleness and trust- 

 ing behavior render them very attractive. Among the many pretty 

 bird-romances going on at this time none is more charming than 

 the courtships of these delicate sandpipers. They forsake the borders 

 of icy pools and scatter in twos and threes over the tundra, choosing 

 dry knolls and tussock-covered areas. Here they trip daintily over 

 the moss, in and out among tufts of grass, never showing the pug- 

 nacity so common among some species at this time. The female 

 modestly avoids the male as he pays his homage by running to and 

 fro before her to show his tiny form to best advantage. At times 

 his heart beats high with pride and he trails his wings, elevates and 

 partly spreads his tail, and struts before his charmer with all the 

 pompous vanity of a pygmy turkey-cock. Again, filled with rapture, 

 the sanguine lover springs from the earth, rises ten or fifteen yards on 

 vibrating wings, and poising in mid-air hovers for nearly a minute 

 in the same spot, while he pours forth a series of musical trills that 

 vary in intensity and produce pleasant cadences. During this song 

 the performer's wings vibrate so rapidly they appear to keep time 

 with the trilling notes, which may be likened to the running down 

 of a small spring, producing a fine, high-pitched, buzzing or whir- 

 ring note. As the song ends the bird raises its wings high over its 

 back in a V-shaped form, and floats slowly to the ground, at the same 

 time uttering a deeper and richer, or more throaty, trill, ending as 

 the ground is reached. These sandpipers have also a variety of low, 

 happy, twittering notes, addressed by the male to the female, and 

 also heard when he is feeding. The females are usually devoted 

 mothers, and are often astonishingly fearless in staying by their eggs 

 or young when danger threatens, at the same time uttering low 

 plaintive notes of alarm. 



39 



