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.;i;ivi'll,\ liiirs iiltMij,' niiiiiin^; lirouks, ami rarely a|>|ii'ariii,i,' iii'ar llii' sca-cdiisl. 'IMic 

 si'aii'ity of I'U'ar rivulets in Sunt hern ('iilildiiiia niav lie the icasmi wliy these liinls 

 iiie lint ruiiiiil there, lis they pi imieh tariher south in the interior in winter. I>r. 

 ('oo|ier has seen I hem in May on mountiiin slre;ims in Simla Clara \'alley, wlu'ie 

 tiiey are supposed liy liini to have liatl lu'.sls. 



This speeies prolialily does not winter in any portion ol' the Inited Stales, ami 

 iieiie are recorded alter Oelolier. It was found in Aui;iisl liy Mr. I >resser (Ui a sand- 

 hank in the h'io (Irande, near Matanioi'as. and none wi're seen there at any other 

 lime. Duriii;^ .\pril he ol'ten t'ound them at the small pools and on the hanks id' the 

 small streams near San AiitoiMo. \ single speeimen is recorded as haviui;- lieen taken 

 in Au,i,Mist in .\ri/.oiia.. Mr. .1. .V. .Mien noticed this species in Kaslern Kansas in the 

 early part ol' May, ami found it there (|uite common, lie a.^aiu met with it diirini; 

 the second week in .Vui^usl at Lake I'ass in Culorado, and in Septemlier in the \'al- 

 Icy of Salt, l-ake. Mr. I\idi;\va\ also met with it (iccasionall\ in I'tah and Nevada. 

 It arrived in the Ti'iickee N'alley May I.'!, and was noticed in Parley's I'ark in the 

 Walisalch Mountains in .\ui;nsl. It was much less niimerous than '/'rliii/niilrs iimrii- 

 lurius. 



In liOiiv; Island. accordiuL;- to Oiraud, it is not very almndant. yef hy no means 

 rare. It is distriliuted sinijiy or in pairs alony; such creeks as are reached \>\ the 

 till'; and is also oliservcd aliont pools and rivulets im>re remote from the sea. It 

 seldom visits the lieaeh, and is very rarely met with in the salt-marshes on the hays. 

 It ••'.ten takes up its ahode near the hahitations of man. prcl'errin!;' his society to that. 

 nl the numerous species of shore-liirds freipu'ut in^' the seaside. It is not considered 

 i;ainc. and is not hunted, and thus heeonies ipnle familiar. When neai'ly approached 

 il Hies hut a short distance hefore i|. ie-ali,u;hts. to lesume its oecupat ion of prohin.y; 

 llic soft, anni for worms and minute shelllish, which ahoiind in its favorite haunts. 

 Il also results to decayed loj,'s fiU' the purpose of pi'ocuring j^ruhs. and from this 

 |icciiliarily of hahit il is liy some known as the ••Wood Tattler." When siii'pri.'^ed if 

 iiHcrs a sharp whistliny; note, raises its win,i;s. and runs iiimhly over the miry ijronnd. 

 II closely pursued, if retreats to t,h(> opposite side of the pond, arranges its feathers, 

 and soon resuun-s its usual };entle manm'rs. This liird is very active on llu> win^;-. 

 and may sometimes lu" seen darting; after win>fed insects, which it is very ex|>erl in 

 calcliinjj;; and when Hyinj,', its loni; and ^'raccfidly curved winj^s add (,'reatly to the 

 elTcct. (d' its neat plnmas^e. It arrives lui l,on,y; Island in May. and is not Si'cii there 

 alter Septemher. 



It passes its Itrief period of reproduction in the extended re^jion north of latitude 

 II', liul to what extent mirth is uncertain, l^iehardsou met with a sin,y:le individual 

 at (Ircal iiear Lake, in lalilude (M" ;t()'. May II. IS1.'(>; and Mr. hall noticed it at 

 Nulalo oil ahout the same parallel. Mr. IJoss found it common on the .Macken/ie 

 Itivcr. ami Captain lUakiston oh.served it on the Saskatchewan I'lains. it is found 

 tliioii!;lioiit the summer — or Ironi May to Septemher — in the iieif,dil)orhooi! of Calais, 

 Mc., and Mr. r>oardman has no douht that it hreeds there. N'et in the summer (d' 

 l'*^7.'l, from May throu^jh .liine — as Mr. Mrewster informs ns — none of these hirds 

 were to he seen in the vicinity id' Lake riubafjo};; hut in the latter part, of duly, 

 wlicii the mii^rations southward hegan. they a|)pearcd there in larp> nnmlx'rs, appa- 

 I'ciilly havin,u; come from a distance. He naturally inferred that lew lU' none lireed 

 ill that neij,dil)(U'luio(l. 



Wil.son states tliat this .sjiccies is found in the summer in diiinp meadows lunoiig 

 •Mir liif^hest mountains, from Kentucky to New \'ork, on the mossy niarj^ins of nioiin- 

 laiii springs. He found it unsuspicious, niul permitting a near uiiproiieii without 



vol,. 1. — ;!(! 



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