WANDERING TATTLES 423 



slenderer bill ; and from the Sandpipers by its dark, unif orm-eolored 

 upper surface and the absence of white on its rump or wing. 



From the more or less extensive notes on the habits of this species 

 made by various observers we select the following. Nelson (1887, 

 p. 119) says that while he was walking along the rugged beach on 

 Sanak, one of the eastern Aleutian Islands, Alaska, on May 17, 1877, 



. . . One of these Tattlers was started from its feeding ground on the 

 wave-washed rocks, where, amid the seaweed, it found an abundance of small 

 crustaceans and mollusks. As I approached it started off, uttering a loud clear, 

 flute-like tu-tu-M-tu. This is the common note they utter when startled, 

 although they change it at times to a, sharper sound. . .' . During their pres- 

 ence on the coast of Norton Sound they show a decided preference for the 

 most rugged and rock-bound parts of the shore, rarely or never occurring else- 

 where. They are unsuspicious and gentle, moving gracefully from rock to rock 

 and running to the edge of the water, searching for their food. They are 

 usually solitary, but three or four may be started sometimes from a small 

 islet on which there is a good feeding ground. A gunshot echoing among the 

 huge bowlders and cliffs about their haunts starts up those near at hand with 

 mellow cries of alarm, but they either fly a short distance and renew their 

 pursuits, or alight on some jutting point or top of a rock, and stand motionless, 

 like gracefully-poised statuettes. . . . 



Henshaw found the Wandering Tattler on Santa Cruz Island, 

 California, on June 4, 1875, and writes (1876, p. 272) of it as follows: 



They appear not to be a bird of the sandy shores at all, but resort exclu- 

 sively to the rocks covered with sea-weed, where they follow the tide as it 

 ebbs and flows, running back and forth and picking up the minute worms and 

 marine animals, of which they find a great abundance. In motions, they 

 simulate exactly the little Spotted Sandpiper, and have the same curious "tip- 

 up ' ' motion of the body, which they indulge in at moments of rest from feed- 

 ing or wlien attentively looking about them. They fly, too, with the same 

 deliberate wing-beats, the pinions being slightly decurved, the tips pointed 

 downward. Their voices are, however, wholly different, and the notes are 

 very loud and harsh when compared with the smooth whistle of the other 

 species. I found them usually solitary and quite watchful and full of dis- 

 trust, though I found myself once or twice within a few feet of them, and 

 was allowed a most excellent chance to watcn their motions. 



"W. E. Bryant (1888, p. 43) observed the species on the Farallon 

 Islands in late July, 1886. Here 



At high tide they sat motionless upon the rocks, which they resemble in 

 color, making it difficult to detect them unless flushed. When the tide was out 

 they fed at the water's edge; following a receding wave they searched hurriedly 

 amongst the kelp for food, running or making short flights to escape an incom- 

 ing breaker. Seveial times a laggard was overtaken and covered by a breaker; 

 when it receded he flew to the rocks and after shaking the water from his 

 plumage, returned to feed. 



Dawson (1911, p. 180) spent a fortnight, from May 20 to June 3, 

 1911, on the same islands. He writes : 



