120 With Rod and Gun in New England 



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"Yes," I replied, "the least sandpiper is the Tringa pusilla of Wilson, 

 and is now called the Tringa minutilla, and the other species is the semi- 

 palmated sandpiper, the Tringa semipalmata of Wilson, or the Ereunetes 

 pusillus of later writers. It may be readily distinguished from the other 

 in all plumages by comparing the feet, the semipalmated sandpiper being 

 partially web-footed. 



" The peeps are usually unsuspicious birds, allowing the sportsman to 

 approach them within gunshot. They run along the beach rapidly and 

 when flushed will return readily to the whistle of the gunner. They sub- 

 sist on minute crustaceans and aquatic and other insects, and in the 

 autumn, as you well know, become very fat." 



" We used to shoot another species that we called the brant snipe," 

 said the Judge. "I think it was the red-backed sandpiper or, as some 

 used to call it, the winter snipe." 



" Yes," replied the Doctor, " it is still pretty abundant ; it frequents 

 the seashore and generally in Hocks. It passes north in April and returns 

 in September, sometimes earlier. It is the bird known to ornithologists 

 as the Tringa a/pina, I believe." 



" Yes, it was so designated," I added, " but is now called the Tringa 

 alphia Pacified^ although the last specific name is not essential, for it is as 

 common on the Atlantic as on the Pacific coast. Like most of the other 

 species it has a great variety of popular names, among which the most 

 common, in addition to those you have mentioned, are the purre, fall snipe, 

 and brant snipe. It prefers to range on the sand bars and muddy flats, 

 where it feeds on the marine forms upon which most of the other shore 

 birds subsist. It is a restless bird, constantly on the move. They gather 

 in a thick bunch when on the strand or when performing their evolutions 

 in the air, and as many as fifty have been shot by one discharge of the gun. 

 It becomes very fat in the autumn and is a favorite with many gour- 

 mets. It remains on our shores until late in the fall, and for that reason, 

 I suppose, is called, though improperly, the 'winter snipe.' It is more 

 abundant on the New Jersey shores than elsewhere on our coast, and is a 

 favorite bird with gunners." 



"There is a great variety of beach or bay birds," said the Judge, 

 " and they vary so in their different plumages that it is not strange there 

 is so much confusion regarding them among sportsmen." 



" You are right, Judge," I replied, " there is almost an infinity of forms 

 and plumage and I have sometimes been in doubt of the identity of certain 

 kinds when I have shot them." 



" The species that is commonly called the ' beach bird ' is one that is 

 rarely mistaken for another ; it is the sanderling, is it not " ? asked the 

 Judge. 



" Yes, it is one of the best known of any ; it is the Calidris arenaria of 



