Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



awhile on the south shore of Long Island in the early autumn 

 yearly. " They are an extremely active species when on the 

 wing," writes Dr. Hatch, who studied them in Minnesota, "and 

 essentially ploverine in all respects, seeking sandy, barren prairies 

 where they live upon grasshoppers, crickets, and insects gener- 

 ally, and ants and their eggs especially. 1 have found them 

 repasting upon minute mollusks on the sandy shores of small 

 and shallow ponds, where they were apparently little more sus- 

 picious than the solitary sandpipers are notably. The flight is in 

 rather compact form, dipping and rising alternately, and with a 

 disposition to return again to the neighborhood of their former 

 feeding places." "During the breeding season," says Mr. D. G. 

 Elliot, "they indulge in curious movements, one of which is to 

 walk about with one wing stretched out to its fullest extent and 

 held high in the air. Two will spar like fighting-cocks, then 

 tower for about thirty feet with hanging legs. Sometimes one 

 will stretch himself to his full height, spread his wings forward 

 and puff out his throat, at the same time making a clucking 

 noise, while others stand around and admire him." 



Spotted Sandpiper 



(Actitis macularia) 



Called also: TEETER; TILT-UP; SAND LARK; PEET-WEET; 

 TEETER-TAIL 



Length — 7.50 inches. 



Male and Female— Upper parts an olive ashen color, iridescent, 

 and spotted and streaked with black; line over eye and 

 under parts white, the latter plentifully spotted with round 

 black dots large and small, but larger and closer on the male 

 than on the female, the smallest marks on throat; inner tail 

 feathers like the back, the outer ones with blackish bars; 

 secondaries and their coverts broadly tipped with white; 

 some white feathers at bend of wing; white wing lining 

 with dusky bar; other white feathers concealed in folded 

 wing, but conspicuous in flight. Bill flesh colored or partly 

 yellow, black tipped. Winter birds are duller and browner 

 and without bars on upper parts. 



Range — North America to Hudson Bay, nesting throughout its 

 range; winters in southern states and southward to Brazil. 



Season — Summer resident; April to September or October. 



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