﻿232 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  times 
  remaining 
  till 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  September, 
  which 
  are 
  also 
  the 
  dates 
  of 
  its 
  

   departure 
  from 
  Long 
  Island. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  nearctic 
  species, 
  breeding 
  from 
  Virginia 
  

   and 
  Kansas, 
  to 
  Nova 
  Scotia 
  and 
  Alaska, 
  and 
  wintering 
  in 
  South 
  America. 
  

  

  Haunts 
  and 
  habits. 
  More 
  than 
  any 
  other 
  shore 
  bird, 
  this 
  species, 
  

   as 
  its 
  name 
  of 
  Upland 
  plover 
  signifies, 
  is 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  the 
  dry 
  fields 
  and 
  pastures, 
  

   rarely 
  visiting 
  the 
  shores 
  or 
  marshy 
  lowlands. 
  It 
  seems 
  to 
  prefer 
  dry 
  rolling 
  

   plains 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York, 
  especially 
  waste 
  fields, 
  wide 
  pastures, 
  and 
  

   even 
  cultivated 
  fields. 
  On 
  Long 
  Island 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  coast 
  it 
  

   occurs 
  on 
  the 
  grassy 
  sand 
  plains, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  barren 
  hilltops 
  of 
  New 
  

   England. 
  Mr 
  H. 
  L. 
  Bowers 
  writes, 
  1900, 
  "they 
  are 
  very 
  plentiful 
  in 
  the 
  

   dry 
  swamps 
  west 
  of 
  Rome, 
  during 
  the 
  summer. 
  They 
  nest 
  in 
  the 
  timothy 
  

   fields 
  near 
  by, 
  but 
  the 
  old 
  birds 
  are 
  never 
  seen 
  near 
  the 
  nest 
  and 
  will 
  not 
  

   leave 
  their 
  eggs 
  till 
  nearly 
  stepped 
  on. 
  They 
  arrive 
  April 
  14th 
  and 
  nest 
  in 
  

   Ma\'." 
  Mr 
  George 
  F. 
  Guelf 
  of 
  Brockport 
  writes, 
  "they 
  are 
  common 
  on 
  the 
  

   level 
  fields 
  which 
  extend 
  from 
  4 
  miles 
  east 
  of 
  Clarkson, 
  Monroe 
  county, 
  

   about 
  9 
  miles 
  to 
  the 
  west, 
  and 
  lying 
  about 
  i 
  mile 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  Ridge 
  road." 
  

   Mr 
  E. 
  H. 
  Short 
  of 
  Chili 
  says 
  they 
  are 
  becoming 
  commoner 
  and 
  extending 
  

   their 
  range, 
  often 
  nesting 
  in 
  cornfields, 
  potato 
  patches, 
  and 
  fallows. 
  James 
  

   Savage 
  and 
  Hermann 
  Grieb 
  state 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  grown 
  commoner 
  within 
  the 
  

   last 
  15 
  or 
  20 
  years 
  in 
  the 
  vicinit}^ 
  of 
  Buffalo 
  and 
  is 
  rarely 
  killed 
  by 
  the 
  

   sportsmen, 
  as 
  it 
  is 
  practically 
  impossible 
  to 
  get 
  within 
  shooting 
  distance 
  

   of 
  the 
  birds. 
  The 
  common 
  experience 
  of 
  observers 
  throughout 
  the 
  interior 
  

   ■of 
  New 
  York 
  is 
  that 
  very 
  few 
  Upland 
  plovers 
  are 
  shot, 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  

   country 
  making 
  it 
  practically 
  impossible 
  to 
  hunt 
  it 
  on 
  horseback 
  or 
  from 
  

   wagons, 
  as 
  is 
  often 
  done 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  prairies. 
  The 
  chief 
  enemies 
  of 
  the 
  

   bird 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York 
  are 
  certainly 
  not 
  the 
  gunners, 
  but 
  wandering 
  

   cats 
  and 
  other 
  predacious 
  animals, 
  sheep 
  and 
  cattle 
  which 
  destroy 
  its 
  

   •eggs, 
  late 
  plowing 
  and 
  the 
  cultivating 
  of 
  fields. 
  

  

  This 
  beautiful 
  bird 
  like 
  most 
  members 
  of 
  the 
  Snipe 
  family 
  executes 
  a 
  

   peculiar 
  performance 
  in 
  the 
  mating 
  season. 
  The 
  bird 
  mounts 
  high 
  in 
  air, 
  

   ■or 
  alights 
  on 
  a 
  knoll, 
  "a 
  fence, 
  or 
  even 
  a 
  tree, 
  and 
  utters 
  a 
  prolonged 
  mourn- 
  

   ful 
  mellow 
  whistle, 
  more 
  like 
  the 
  wind 
  than 
  like 
  a 
  bird's 
  voice, 
  which 
  may 
  

   be 
  heard 
  even 
  in 
  the 
  night, 
  and 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  weird 
  and 
  never 
  to 
  be 
  

  

  