THE LEAST SANDPIPER. 



( Tringa m in u til la . ) 



Among the shore birds no species is 

 more interesting than the Least Sand- 

 piper — the pigmy of them all. They are 

 cheerful and "bustling little busy bodies," 

 always at work, and while searching for 

 their food, seemingly conversing with 

 each other in a most joyful manner, as 

 they utter an almost constant peeping 

 note. They seem to love company, for 

 they not only associate with large num- 

 bers of their own kind, but also with 

 other shore birds, offering harm to none 

 and attending strictly to their own affairs. 

 They become excited only when dis- 

 turbed during the period of nesting, when 

 they show alarm by flying in such a man- 

 ner as to produce a "whirring noise," not 

 unlike the "wind-strokes of a startled 

 grouse." But these Sandpipers are not 

 liable to be greatly disturbed during their 

 breeding season, for they nest in the 

 shore wilds north of the United States, 

 where upon "the moss-clad crests of the 

 highest rocks, within short distances of 

 the sea," they rear their young. But they 

 spend but little time in preparing their 

 homes, for the moss-covered rocks or 

 earth furnishes the material, and in a 

 slight depression fashioned in this mossy 

 bed the four eggs are laid. 



In a fascinating article on the habits of 

 the Least Sandpiper, Dr. Coues has said, 

 regarding one of the localities where they 

 nest : "Fogs hung low and heavy over 

 rock-girdled Labrador. Angry waves, 

 pallid with rage, exhausted themselves to 

 encroach upon the stern shores, and 

 baffled, sink back howling into the depths. 

 Winds shriek as they course from crag 

 to crag in mad career, till the humble 

 mosses that clothe the rocks crouch lower 

 still in fear. Overhead the sea gulls 

 scream as they winnow, and the murres, 

 all silent, ply eager oars to escape the 

 blast. What is here to entice the steps 

 of the delicate birds? Yet they come, 

 urged by "resistless impulse, and have 



made a nest on the ground in some half- 

 sheltered nook." 



Strange and obscure are the laws which 

 govern the habits of birds. The Least 

 Sandpipers seem to be patient in the 

 bleak localities which they have chosen 

 for nesting only until their young have 

 safely grown to an age when they are 

 able to care for themselves. Then they 

 will frequently hurry back to the more 

 congenial feeding grounds within the 

 borders of the United States. Passing 

 northward to their breeding grounds late 

 in April or early in May, they will in 

 some seasons, return as early as July. In 

 their migrations, however, they are very 

 erratic and will at times remain far north 

 until autumn, where "when the young 

 birds are grown strong of wing, family 

 joins family, and the gathering goes to 

 the sea-beach. Stretches of sand, or peb- 

 bly shingle, or weed-loaded rocks, or 

 muddy flats bestrewn with wrack, invite 

 and are visited in turn ; and each yields 

 abundant sustenance." When at last they 

 do start for the south, they come in large 

 flocks and our marshes and beaches often 

 seemed thronged with countless num- 

 bers of these active little birds and their 

 larger relatives. In numbers "they be- 

 come imposing, though singly they are 

 insignificant." A flock seen flying at a 

 distance has been likened to a swarm of 

 bees in search of a place of settlement. 



The geographical range of the Least 

 Sandpipers is very extensive, including 

 the whole of both North and South 

 America. During its migrations they are 

 frequently common in all suitable places 

 within the United States. They frequent 

 the muddy banks of rivers, lakes, ponds 

 and marshes. "The track of their tiny 

 feet, imprinted on the sand of the sea- 

 shore and the soil of the inland water, 

 show where they have gone." Their 

 food chiefly consists of worms, aquatic 

 insects and the smaller mollusks. Most 



155 



