SCOLOPACIDJJ — THE SNIPE FAMILY — TRINGOIDES. 303 



hardly distiiigui.sliablc froiu tlu- full voice of the parents ; and they also at a very 

 early period give the jjeculiar movements of their tail-feathers for which the species 

 is noted. The flight of this bird is very uneven, being seldom for any considerable 

 distance in a straight line. In the love season it often performs aerial gambols just 

 above the surface of the ground. AMien wonnded it will take to the water and swim 

 beneath the surface with considerable swiftness. In the spring it takes possession, in 

 pairs, of the muddy margins of watercourses, making excursions from thence into the 

 adjoining fields. It is exclusive in habit, never seeking the society of other species. 



Mr. J. A. Allen found this sjiecies quite common in Eastern Kansas in the early 

 part of May. He afterward noticed it more or less frequently along the streams of 

 Western Kansas, near Fort Hays, and in Colorado he traced it up to the very source 

 of the South I'latte, on Mount Lincoln. He also met with it occasionally in the 

 Valley of Great Salt Lake. Dresser obtained in August a single immature specimen 

 near IVIatamoras, and in Sejrtember and October found the species abundant near San 

 Antonio. ^Ir. Ilidgway states that, next to the Kildeer, he found this bird the most 

 abimdant and generally distributed Wader in the Great Basin. He saw it breeding 

 from an altitude of four thousand feet or less to above seven thousand. At Carson 

 City it arrives about the 29th of April. 



Although not met with by Sir John Richardson, this bird has a high northern 

 range, reaching almost to the borders of the Arctic Ocean. Bernard Ross found it 

 abundant along the banks of the Mackenzie ; Kennicott mentions it as breeding near 

 Fort Resolution; and in each instance the nests are described as having been mere 

 depressions in the gromid, with a few bits of grass or a few dry leaves placed there- 

 in. Mr. Dall obtained a few specimens at Nulato from the Kith to the 30th of ]May ; 

 Mr. Bannister fovuid it common on the Island of St. Michael's iu the fall ; and it was 

 taken by Bischoff at Sitka. ]\Ir. ]\IacFarhine found it breeding and (piite common in 

 the neighborhood of Fort Anderson. It is abundant along the Anderson River, and 

 also on the Mackenzie from Fort Good Hope to Fort Simpson. The nests are all 

 spoken of as being mere depressions, scantily lined with leaves and grass ; they con- 

 tained eggs in the latter part of June. Mr. Audubon found it breeding iu Labrador 

 on the 17th of Jirne, and by the 29th of July the young were fully fledged. 



In favorable seasons the Peet-Weet appears in Massachusetts during the last week 

 in April, and in some seasons nearly a fortnight later. It comes at first in small 

 roving flocks, and for a while moves about in a brief and even sportive manner, flying 

 back and forth along and across the smaller streams, performing strange aerial evolu- 

 tions, seemingly more for its own enjoyment than in quest of food. As these birds 

 move about — and more especially when they meet other small flocks of their own 

 species — they give utterance to their cheerful and lively whistle, which is loud and 

 shrill, and not unlike the syllables peet-weet several times repeated. Toward the 

 close of the refrain the notes are lower and the sound more plaintive. A little later 

 in the season they separate into pairs along the banks of smaller streams, and usually 

 nest in fresh-water meadows or iu low uplands not far from water ; occasionally 

 they nest on uplands not far from the sea. Sometimes this bird is so familiar as to 

 make its nest within a garden, and not far from the house. In one instance Mr. 

 Nuttall found its eggs in the strawberry beds of a resident of Belmont, ISIass., while 

 yoiuig and old familiarly fed on the margin of an adjoining duck-pond. 



This species has a very characteristic habit of vibrating its tail and moving its 

 head and body, as if balancing itself, the head and tail being alternately depressed 

 and elevated. When excited, and anxious for the safety of its young, this vibratory 

 motion is especially noticeable, and is joined with plaintive cries oi peet-weet-weet. 



