272 LONG-LEGGED SANDPIPER. 



huddled close together, and began to plume and cleanse themselves. All of 

 a sudden they ceased their occupation, stood still, and several of them 

 emitted a sharp tweet-tweet, somewhat resembling the notes of Tot anus 

 solitarius; immediately after which seven birds of the same species passed 

 close to me, and alighted near those which I had already watched. They at 

 once began to feed, and as I thought that the first flock might join them, and 

 that I might lose the opportunity of procuring specimens, in sufficient num- 

 ber, I fired and killed eleven. The rest flew off", and were joined by the 

 second group, the whole flying to windward in a compact body, and emitting 

 every now and then their sharp tweet, tiveet, until out of sight and hearing. 



My son John obtained several of these birds on the same island while 

 they were feeding on the margins of a fresh-water pond; and we saw them 

 on almost every island and bay on our way to the Texas, where we also 

 procured some on Galveston Island. 



The flight of these Sandpipers is rapid and regular. They move com- 

 pactly, and often when about to alight, or after being disturbed, incline their 

 bodies to either side, shewing alternately the upper and lower parts. On 

 foot they move more like Curlews than Tringas, they being as it were more 

 sedate in their deportment. At times, on the approach of a person, they 

 squat on the ground, very much in the manner of the Esquimaux Curlew, 

 Numenius borealis; and their flesh is as delicate as that of the species just 

 named. In the stomach of several individuals I found small worms, minute 

 shell-fish, and vegetable substances, among which were the hard seeds of 

 plants unknown to me. I suspect that in summer and autumn they feed on 

 small fruits and berries, though of this I have no proof. 



Among those which we procured, I found the differences in the colour of 

 the plumage quite as great as in Scolopax noveboracensis, some of the 

 younger birds being yet in their winter dress, while the older had already 

 assumed a reddish colour on the cheeks, the top of the head, and the breast. 

 The females were all larger than the males, and differed from each other not 

 only in the markings of the plumage, but also in the length of the bill, to 

 the extent of a quarter of an inch, and of the legs, to a still greater extent. 

 Whether or not this species assumes a uniform reddish tint in the breeding 

 season, such as is observed in the Curlew Sandpiper, Tringa subarquata, I 

 am unable to say, although I am much inclined to think that it does. 



Their passage through the United States is very rapid, both in spring and 

 autumn. Some few spend the winter in Lower Louisiana, but nearly all 

 proceed southward beyond the Texas. 



Tringa himantopus, Bonap. Syn., p. 316. 



Tringa douglassii, Swains. Douglass'' Sandpiper. Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., 

 vol. ii. p. 379. 



