BEACH BIRDS. I7I 



shy species, breeding in some of the mountainous portions of the 

 United States and north. 



Tringoides macularius.—Gr3.y. Spotted Sand-piper. Tip-up. Teeter. Sand 

 larlt. Peetweet. 



This is one of our very common and abundant shore birds, 

 known to all. They are not found in compact flocks, but in loose 

 companies of from five to ten. Color of adult, above, olive with a 

 coppery lustre, below pure wh ite, throat and breast thickly spotted 

 with distinct black markings, these are wanting in the young, 

 whose breast is white with perhaps an ashy suffusion ; they be- 

 come enormously fat in the autumn, but are poor eating owing to 

 the fishy nature of their food. The nest is placed on the ground 

 often in field or orchard, but always near some body of water, and 

 is a slight affair, merely a collection of dried grasses ; the eggs 

 are four in number, of a muddy color, blotched with blackish. 



Actiiurus bartramius. — Bon. Bartramian Sandpiper. Upland Plover. Field 



Plover. 



An abundant migratory bird throughout North America. It 

 is an esteemed game bird, and is seen in flocks, in fields, not ne- 

 cessarily near the water, their principal food being insects. In 

 color they are blackish above, variegated with tawny and whitish, 

 below pale tawny, breast and sides with bars and arrowheads of 

 blackish, bill and legs pale. This species is far more abundant 

 on the plains of the Missouri River region than on any other sec- 

 tion of our country. It is found on the high dry plains any where, 

 and when fat, as it generally is, from the abundance of its favorite 

 food, the grasshopper, is one of the most delicious morsels ima- 

 ginable. They breed everywhere throughout this country, laying 

 four spotted eggs in a rather deep hollow in the ground, the nest 

 being composed merely of a few grass blades. 



Tryngites ru/escens.—Cab. BuflF-breasted Sandpiper. 



In color much like the Bartramian Sandpiper ; it is a smaller 

 bird however, and will not be confounded with Bartramtus. Thej 

 do not seem to be an abundant species, but are found generally 

 distributed throughout the open country of North America. 



