266 



THE RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 



^Tringa alpina, Linn. 

 PLATE CCCXXXII — Male in Summer, and Adult in Winter. 



In autumn and winter, this species is abundant along the whole range of 

 our coast, wherever the shores are sandy or muddy, from Maine to the 

 mouths of the Mississippi; but I never found one far inland. Sometimes 

 they collect into flocks of several hundred individuals, and are seen wheel- 

 ing over the water near the shores or over the beaches, in beautiful order, 

 and now and then so close together as to afford an excellent shot, especially 

 when they suddenly alight in a mass near the sportsman, or when, swiftly 

 veering, they expose their lower parts at the same moment. On such occa- 

 sions a dozen or more may be killed at once, provided the proper moment 

 is chosen. 



There seems to be a kind of impatience in this bird that prevents it from 

 remaining any length of time in the same place, and you may see it scarcely 

 alighted on a sand-bar, fly off without any apparent reason to another, where 

 it settles, runs for a few moments, and again starts off on wing. When 

 searching for food they run with great agility, following the retiring waves, 

 and retreating as they advance, probing the wet sands,.and picking up objects 

 from their surface, ever jerking up the tail, and now and then uttering a 

 faint cry, pleasant to the ear, and differing from the kind of scream which 

 they emit while on wing. 



When I was in the Floridas in winter, I found this species abundant, and 

 my party shot a great number of them, on account of the fatness and juici- 

 ness of their flesh. They all appeared to have their plumage greyer than 

 those shot in the Carolinas at the same season, and not one exhibited the 

 least redness on the back, although that colour is so conspicuous in spring 

 before they leave us for the north. They usually take their departure from 

 the south about the first of April, reach the Middle Districts by the fifteenth 

 of that month, and in a few days assume their summer plumage. I have 

 observed that at this season the male birds are frequently in the habit of 

 raising their wings and running in that position for a few steps, when they 

 close them, and nod to the nearest female. None of the other sex, however, 

 seemed to take the least notice of this homage. On our way to Labrador 



