144 WADING BIRDS. 



ground. In the salt-marshes near Boston they are not uncom- 

 mon in small numbers, but some seasons are seen whirling 

 about wildly in large and separate flocks, and so timorous and 

 roving as to give the alarm to the other larger birds asso- 

 ciated around them. Along the shores of New Jersey they 

 are numerous, and Mr. Hutchins, who described this species, 

 without publishing his description, as early as the year 1770, 

 says that they arrive at Severn River, in the fur countries, in 

 great numbers about the middle of May. Towards autumn 

 these birds utter a chirping call, and in September they retire 

 to the southward, soon after which they are seen in Massa- 

 chusetts on most of the muddy shores, which they frequent 

 at the recess of the tide, dwelling more exclusively in the 

 immediate vicinity of the ocean than the Peep. When dis- 

 persed or alarmed, they give a quailing call, like ^to-weet, 'to- 

 weet. At other times, when startled, they utter a shrill clatter- 

 ing whistle, and are always noisy and querulous. Like the 

 small land-birds, they may sometimes be seen washing them- 

 selves with great satisfaction in the salt pools and plashes, and 

 when wounded swim with considerable vigor. While here 

 they feed upon diminutive coleoptera, very small shrimps, 

 minute shell-fish, which they probe out of the sand, some mol- 

 lusca, and occasionally the roots of the Zostera marina ; they 

 also swallow considerable quantities of small gravel, and be- 

 coming very fat, are nearly as well flavored as the Snipe, being 

 very superior to the other small species. 



This species breeds in the Far North, and winters on the shores of 

 the Gulf of Mexico and southward, journeying to and fro along the 

 inland rivers as well as by the sea-coast. It is still abundant in 

 New England, but flocks are not so numerous as formerly. 



Note. — A few examples of the Western Sandpiper (£■. 

 occidentalis) have been taken in New England. It is very similar 

 to pusillus, but has a longer bill and tarsus, and the plumage of 

 the upper parts is more distinctly rufous. 



