BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER 259 



from flying or standing birds, consists of three syllables, all 

 legato, the first prolonged, the second a bit lower and short, 

 the last higher than the first. They are not unlike the 

 toor-a-ioee of a bluebird, but are lower in pitch, more pro- 

 longed and mournful. When feeding with other birds, the 

 Black-bellies may easily be distinguished by their greater 

 size ; the whitish tail and the white in the wing readily 

 identify them in flight. It is quite possible for a sharp 

 eye to note the black axillars, — the long feathers close to 

 the body under the raised wing, — either just as the bird 

 raises his wings to fly, or as he takes his strokes. 



SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. -. FAMILY 

 SCOLOPACID.a! 



The Sandpipers constitute a numerous family, many of 

 which are so rare on our northeastern coast that only an 

 inveterate gunner can hope to find them. There are about 

 seventeen species which occur in New York and New Eng- 

 land regularly. These may all be distinguished after a certain 

 amount of practice without the use of a gun. One species, 

 the Woodcock, is rarely found away from the cover of trees 

 or bushes, and several other species occur inland more com- 

 monly than along the coast. The Snipe frequents fresh- 

 water marshes. The Upland Plover (really a Sandpiper) 

 breeds on upland pastures, chiefly in New Hampshire and 

 Vermont, but occurs as a migrant on grassy hills along the 

 coast. The Solitary Sandpiper is a regular migrant inland, 

 and the Spotted Sandpiper, though a very common summer 

 resident along the coast, is equally common on inland ponds 

 and streams. The other Sandpipers are preeminently sea- 

 shore birds, though like the sea ducks they not infrequently 

 visit large bodies of fresh water. Several of them, includ- 

 ing the two Yellow-legs and the Pectoral Sandpiper, are 

 birds of the marshes, feeding in the pools that abound 



