BAY BIRDS. 333 
gated with twany and white; the under parts are a pale 
tawny; the breast and sides are marked with bars and ar- 
rowheads of black; and the legs and bill are pale. This 
is considered one of the best game birds of its order, 
owing to the delicacy of its flesh; hence it is eagerly 
sought by all lovers of the gun. Itis a resident of the 
high plains of the West, as it finds an abundance of food 
in the numerous and juicy grasshoppers which frequent 
that section. It moves in large flocks, and as it breeds 
throughout the country, it may be met with from Cana- 
da to the Southern States. Its notes are soft and pleas- 
ant as it goes 
“ Wild whistling o’er the hill ” 
in September and October, when it is so fat that it might 
be compared to a ball of butter. It is cunning and cau- 
tious in the autumn, and readily recognizes a man with a 
gun, but it is less wary in spring after its return from the 
South. The best way of making a large bag of upland 
plovers is to drive towards them with a horse and car- 
riage, not directly, however, but parallel with them, 
and shoot the moment the animal stops, or else to place 
a companion in the most convenient cover and drive them 
in his direction. Both may get shots by this means. 
The birds fly in rather open order when alarmed, and 
very rapidly, so that they get out of harm’s way in a 
short time. 
The ruff-breasted sand-piper (Zryngites rufescens), 
which looks like the preceding, but is much smaller, is 
scattered over the open regions of the Continent. The 
spotted sand-piper, teeter, peetweet, or sand-lark (Trin- 
goides macularius), is very abundant along the sea-shore. 
Ii generally travels in small wings numbering from four 
to sixteen. The adult is of an olive hue above, witha 
coppery lustre, and a pure white below, the throat and 
breast being dotted with black markings. The sander- 
ling, or ruddy plover (Calidris arenaria), which is usu- 
