Sept. 1887.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



147 



self have often regaled them with bits of cold 

 hominy. It is a popular fallacj^ to speak of 

 birds as "strictly insectivorous" and the like. 

 Very few species will always confine them- 

 selves to one class of food. A still greater 

 error is to divide all birds into useful and de- 

 structive. This subject is too wide and impor- 

 tant to discuss here, but I will illustrate one 

 point of it at least, as applied to my little 

 friends in the hedge. They are very partial to 

 figs; a neighbor of mine who has a fig tree 

 styles Mockingbirds " the most destructive of 

 all the feathered tribe." No sooner do his figs 

 begin to ripen than the Mockingbirds flock 

 there by the dozen. Then he loads up his old 

 gun and bangs away at them for hours, and 

 unfortunately he is a pretty good shot too. 

 Some years his murders must count up into 

 the hundreds. 



I think my pets will not wander so far. Just 

 now they seem to find plenty to eat about home 

 and are fattening on the worms from my to- 

 mato vines. 



Mockingbird is not a good name for this 

 sweet songster. Its rendering of the notes of 

 other birds is a skilful handling of what is 

 often not in first hands a pleasing melody. I 

 have in mind one who lives near the sea beach ; 

 the theme of liis lay is always the cry of sea- 

 birds. The Curlew, the Oystercatcher and 

 even the Terns find a place in his song. I once 

 heard him in the moon light, when he treated 

 me to a delightful pot-pourri of the whistling 

 of Plovers and the voices of Peeps. Another 

 who has his nest in a peach tree that overhangs 

 a pig pen, blends with his song a most skilful 

 adaptation of the tones of the infant porkers 

 below him. Individuals vary considerably in 

 their favorite art, and age seems to increase 

 rather than diminish their powers. The pres- 

 ent incumbent in my hedge is a young bird and 

 his essays beyond his native carol have only 

 extended as yet to the whistle of the Cardinal 

 and the rollicking lay of the Nonpariel. The 

 latter bird is one that seems never to complete 

 his song. He always stops as if he was out of 

 breath and could'nt get to the end. Not so my 

 Mocker; he handles the notes of his little 

 gaudy neighbor so deftly that there seems to 

 be nothing lacking. There is a completeness 

 about his imitations which far exceeds the 

 original. Even the scolding and anxious cry 

 of the mother bird has a certain charm about 

 it when rightly studied. It resembles a thin 

 slice from the discordant squall of her cousin 

 the Catbird, but smoothed ofi" and finished in a 

 way to suit ner own fastidious taste. 



Order Limicolae. 



Its Representation in Bristol County. 



BY II. F. DEXTER, DARTMOUTH, MASS. 



The extensive and varied species of this order 

 occur in this county along the coast in consid- 

 erable numbers, but owing to the restricted 

 area and uncertain movements of the birds, 

 little is known of them in comparison with our 

 inland varieties. 



My observations will be given briefly ; noth- 

 ing will be presumed, simply such occurrences 

 as I have either personallj^ noticed, or derived 

 from authentic sources, and I would acknowl- 

 edge the assistance of nuvny friends for fur- 

 nishing me with data and other information. 



Black-bellied Plover, Squatarola helvetica. 

 Seldom seen in spring; a few instances of cap- 

 ture April '82 and '84. In autumn they occur 

 more frequently, though never very common. 

 Arriving about the middle of September they 

 remain nearly a month, September 3rd and Oc- 

 tober 11th being the two extreme dates of ob- 

 servation. Have never seen it on the uplands, 

 but it has been frequently shot about the inte- 

 rior ponds. 



Golden Plover, Charadius plurialis. This 

 species occurs with us under nearly the same 

 circumstances as the previous, being on the 

 whole more common in fall. 



Killdeer Plover, Oxyechus vociferns. I cannot 

 find this species as common at present ; a few 

 occur inland and have been secured at Reho- 

 both (Carpenter) and Attleboro (Ried). Two 

 instances of its bi-eeding have occurred within 

 the memory of the writer. Along the coast 

 and the principal water courses of the interior, 

 it is found in late summer and autumn in small 

 numbers. 



Semipalmated Plover ^■Eyinlites selmipalmatus. 

 Fairly common in spring but does not tarry 

 long with us at that season. It has been re- 

 ported to breed with us, but the assertion is 

 open to doubt. In the fall it occurs in large 

 numbers, arriving by the first of August and 

 remaining through September. 



Piping Plover, ^Eyialitcs mrhnlus. More of- 

 ten observed in spring than the foi-egoing. A 

 single instance of their breeding is given, a 

 nest found on a small island oft' the coast, June 

 1883. In the autumn it is quite abundant at 

 times, disappearing by the first of October. 



Turnstone, Strepsilas interpres. Frequentlj' 

 seen along the coast in August and September. 

 One or two specimens have been reported as 

 taken on one of our large inland ponds. 



