'? ■ 1 a 



mil 



II 



ii 



338 



PR.ECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



niised in that iiinnodiate vicinity; and it was a partioulaily noticeable fact timt 

 there were few or no ohl birds to be seen. In one Hoek of two innuh'.'d or nioiv 

 he observed only a single old l)ird. lie conjectured at the time that the ItarL•llt^ 

 might be engaged in raising a second brood ; but none were seen at any later iiciind 

 in that season. Mr. Kundien has met with this species every year for more tiimi 

 thirty years. His attention was tirst called to it by the peculiar manner in whicli it 

 carries its neck, which bulges out and presents a singular appearance, during thr 

 breeding-season, or al)out the last of .May. At this time the birds were fighting, nm- 

 niug against one another, and uttering their i)eculiar grunting notes. Tlu-y arrive 

 in Wisconsin from the -Ith to the middle of May, and leave early in the fall, •khh' 

 having been noticed after the tirst frost. Those that conu' to the lake in spring ilo 

 not all stay. They do not arrive in flocks, like the Trlnr/ir, but are more scattered, 

 and select l)y preference certain places in which they remain. He has never imt 

 with them at any great distance from the lake, and has every evidence, except actually 

 finding their nests, that they l)reed in the marshes not far from it. It is not sliy. 

 liefore pairing, this bird keeps in small companies, associating with small TruHjii: 

 Kildeer, etc. He has never iu)ticcd it swimming, except wlien wtmndcd, and then ii 

 swims like a Duck, nodding its head the while. Jle has never known it to dive, luit 

 it often wades up to its belly in the shallow water, its iioti' — particuhirly during 

 the breeding-season — is a siugulai' low grunting, which is not easily descrilied. In 

 fiying it lifts its wings higher than the S[)()tted Sandpiper and some of the sniiil! 

 Tvhujir. In the spring of 1S7.'> it was not more numerous than nsual, but from the 

 last of .lune to the last of .\ugiist it was in unusual lunnbers, nearly all of I hem 

 young. 



Mr. (rcorge O.Welch, of Lynn, Mass., informs nu' that he has occasionally met 

 with single Inrds ol' this species, but regards this as something very unusual. In 

 May, 1.S74, he procured a tine speciuieu — a male — in Naliant. It was in its lull 

 summer dress, and his attention was called to it liy its very singidar proceeilin-s. 

 The bird was on the ground at the edge of a small brackish pool, every now ami 

 then springing up into the air, and — as was afterward ascertained — catching small 

 dipterous insects. This it did as dexterously and as ra])itlly as the iiu)st ex]iert 

 Fly-catcher. .Mr. Batty writes me that it is .seen on Long Island occasionally. Imr 

 that it is very rare there, as well as in Northern New Jersey, where it is called the 

 " Xeedle-l)ill Sni]).'.'" 



Mr. Audubon, in his account of this sju'cies, chums to have met with it along th" 

 wliole ea.stern coast from IJoston to New Jersey ; but this prol)ably was a mistake. 

 It is certainly (pute a rare bird in that region. Mr. Audubon also states that he saw 

 it in Kentucky, as well as :ii other ]iarts of the Tnited States, in .lune, ISL'lt. he 

 received a pair which had ju.st l»een killed by the tishermen with whom he was stay- 

 ing. These had ai-ted as if nesting, and their appearance seemed also to iudirate 

 this; l)ut their nest could not l)e found. .Vbcmt the same period his son i)rocured twe 

 specimens killed (m the rocks at the Hapids of the Ohio l)elow Louisville. Late in 

 the summer of 1SL*4 three were ol)tained near lUiffalo f'reek on Lake Krie ; Kd\v;inl 

 Harris also jn'ocured one near New York, and John Uethnne cme near IJoston. i'lie 

 birds obtained near Lake Kiie were feeding around the borders and in the shalhiws 

 of a pond of small extent. When first seen they were mistaken for Yellowsliaidis, 

 so much did their movements re.-iemble those of that species. They waded in the 

 water np to their bodies. ] icking for food right and left, and performing all tlieir 

 movements with vivacity and ideganee. They kejit (dosely together, and occasion- 

 ally raised their wings for a few moments, as if ai>[)rehensive of getting into too 



