GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 203 



boundless prairies which extend from the Mississippi to the 

 Rocky Mountains, in countless hosts, on its way north to breed, 

 returning in greater numbers to its winter quarters when the duties 

 of reproduction are over. Great numbers also pass along the 

 coast. The migration north commences in April and lasts into 

 May, by the end of the latter month all the birds breeding in 

 higher latitudes having sped away, only those remaining that breed 

 on the more northern prairies of the States. The return migration 

 commences in August, and by the end of September the most 

 northerly breeding grounds are deserted. When on actual passage 

 this species is said to migrate by night. It is a bird of rapid, 

 powerful flight, and during the breeding season alights on trees 

 and posts, where with the wings elevated it utters a prolonged 

 note, hke the whistling or sighing of the wind. The usual note 

 of Bartram's Sandpiper is described as a mellow whistle, and 

 when disturbed from the nest it utters an oft-repeated harsh 

 scream. The prolonged whistling note is said to be often heard 

 at night. Bartram's Sandpiper for the greater part of the year is 

 a very gregarious bird, and even in the breeding season numbers 

 of pairs nest close together. The food of this species consists 

 principally of insects, such as grasshoppers and beetles, but 

 worms and snails are also eaten. In summer and autumn the 

 bird also eats various kinds of ground fruits and berries, seeds, 

 and the buds and shoots of certain plants growing on the prairies. 

 Its flesh is highly esteemed for the table, especially in early 

 autumn, when it is very fat and in good condition. 



Nidification. — The breeding season of Bartram's Sandpiper 

 begins towards the end of May or early in June, and even in 

 northern localities the eggs are usually laid by the middle of that 

 month. The nest is made upon the ground, amongst the grass of 

 the prairies and uplands, sometimes near the margin of a small 

 pool or in ' an open swampy spot near a wood. It is merely a 

 hollow into which a few bits of dry grass or dead leaves are 

 collected as a lining. The eggs are four in number, varying from 

 pale grayish buff to pale bufifish brown in ground colour, spotted 

 and blotched with reddish brown, paler brown, and underlying 

 markings of gray. They measure on an average i'8 inch in length 

 by I "3 inch in breadth. Several nests may often be found quite 



