LITTLE SANDPIPER. 283 



species could I procure, while the young of the Ring Plover were very 

 abundant. 



I was surprised, whilst rambling along the shores of the Raritan river, 

 between New Jersey and New York, to find a great number of Little 

 Sandpipers, on the 29th of July, 1832, leading me to believe that they had 

 probably bred on the elevated portions of Staten Island, although on the 

 other hand, they might have been barren birds. I have been equally 

 astonished to see large flocks of this species on the sand-bars along the shores 

 of the Ohio, below the great Rapids, about the middle of August. Accord- 

 ing to Dr. Richardson, it "breeds within the Arctic Circle, arriving as soon 

 as the snow melts. It was observed on the 21st of May, on the swampy 

 borders of small lakes in latitude 66°. The crops of those we killed were 

 filled with a soft blackish earth, and some white worms." From the above 

 quotation, I would be almost inclined to believe that, like some others of our 

 birds, which are said to be found in northern Europe, this might be one. 



The habits of the Little Sandpiper have been described with great care 

 and accuracy by my friend Thomas Nuttall. His account is indeed so 

 perfect that I shall here lay it before you in preference to one by myself. 

 "The Peeps, as they have been called, are seen in the salt marshes around 

 Boston, as early as the 8th of July; indeed, so seldom are they absent from 

 us in the summer season, that they might be taken for denizens of the state, 

 or the neighbouring countries. When they arrive, now and then accom- 

 panied by the semi-palmated species, the air is sometimes, as it were, 

 clouded with their flocks. Companies led from place to place in quest of 

 food, are seen whirling suddenly in circles, with a desultory flight, at a 

 distance resembling a swarm of hiving bees, seeking out some object on 

 which to settle. At this time, deceiving them by an imitation of their sharp 

 and querulous whistle, the fowler approaches, and adds destruction to the 

 confusion of their timorous and restless flight. Flocking together for 

 common security, the fall of their companions, and their plaintive cry, excite 

 so much sympathy among the harmless Peeps, that, forgetting their own 

 safety, or not well perceiving the cause of the fatality which the gun spreads 

 among them, they fall sometimes in such a state of confusion, as to be routed 

 with but little effort, until the greedy sportsman is glutted with his timorous 

 and infatuated game. When much disturbed, they, however, separate into 

 small and wandering parties, and are now seen gleaning their fare of larvae, 

 worms, minute shell-fish, and insects, in the salt marshes, or on the muddy 

 and sedgy shores of tide rivers and ponds. At such times they may be 

 very nearly approached, betraying rather a heedless familiarity than a 

 timorous mistrust of their most wily enemy; and even when rudely startled, 

 they will often return to the same place in the next instant, to pursue their 



