RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER— AMERICAN DUNLIN— GOLDEN PLOVER. 



67 



and running with great agility before the retiring or advancing 

 waters. When on the wing their notes are more sharp, and 

 frequently repeated. The flesh of this bird is generally held in 

 good esteem, especially in early autumn, when they are fat and 

 well flavored. The length of this species is seven inches, and the 

 span of the wing fourteen inches. 



PLATE XLI. 



Red-breasted Sandpiper, Ash-colored Sandpiper, Gray-back, Robin-snipe, 

 or Knot. (Tringa canutus.) 



Fig. i. 



This pretty bird, described under such a multiplicity of names, 

 is quite a favorite with the sportsman, and when young and fat, is 

 always welcome to the palate of the connoisseur. This species 

 may generally be found near marine marshes on the sea-shore, or 

 the borders of lakes or rivers, visiting the temperate climates 

 during the winter, and returning to the colder latitudes to spend 

 the summer months. Dr. Wheaton states that it occurs in Ohio, 

 and Professor Snow says that it is common in Kansas. Their 

 migrations take place in large parties, which fly by night or early 

 in the morning. During the recess of the tide, they may be seen 

 upon the sea-shore, seeking their food from the refuse of the ocean, 

 or quietly and intently probing the sands in search of worms and 

 shell-fish, and sometimes retreating rapidly before the advancing 

 surge, and profiting by what the wave leaves on its retreat. In 

 all their movements they display great activity, either from running 

 rapidly and lightly on the fore part of their toes over the surface 

 of the moist sand, when swimming in the water, or when winging 

 their way, with a varied, graceful, and rapid flight, through the 

 air. The voice of this bird is clear, piping, and resonant. They 

 are social and peaceful in their habits, and it is probable that the 

 encounters in which they indulge at certain seasons of the year, are 

 as much in sport as in rivalry. "In autumn and winter," says 

 Audubon, " 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 in flocks of several hundred individuals, 

 and are seen wheeling over the water, near the shore, 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 occasions, 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, when it settles, runs for a few moments, 

 and again starts off on wing. This bird is an inhabitant of both 

 continents, and although so abundant along the coasts at some 

 seasons, they appear always to retire to the arctic regions to breed. 

 Their food consists of worms, small mollusks, insects, larvae, and 

 similar fare. This species is ten inches long and twenty inches 

 broad. 



The American Dunlin, Black-bellied or Red-breasted Sandpiper, Ox-bird, 

 or Purre. {Tringa alfiina var. americana!) 



Fig. 2. 



This is one of our small and active species, migrating in large 

 numbers along both our shores in spring and fall. During the 



summer season they are met with throughout the northern hem- 

 isphere, penetrating to the utmost habitable verge of the arctic 

 circle, where they also breed. They likewise inhabit Greenland, 

 Iceland, Scandinavia, the Alps of Siberia, and the coasts of the 

 Caspian. In the southern hemisphere, they sometimes even 

 wander as far as the Cape of Good Hope, and are found in 

 Jamaica and Cayenne. They arrive in the Middle States, on 

 their way north, during the months of April and May, and again, 

 as they pursue their route to the warmer climates, they may be 

 seen in September and October. At these times they often mingle 

 with the flocks of other shore-birds, from which they are dis- 

 tinguishable by the rufous color of their upper plumage. In their 

 habits they are quite active, and when frequenting the muddy fiats 

 and shores of the salt marshes, at the recess of the tide, they can 

 be seen dexterously feeding on the worms, insects, and minute 

 shell-fish, which such places generally afford. "These birds," 

 says Wilson, " in conjunction with several others, sometimes col- 

 lect together in such flocks as to seem, at a distance, a large cloud 

 of thick smoke, varying in form and appearance every instant, 

 while it performs its evolutions in air. As this cloud descends 

 and courses along the shores of the ocean with great rapidity, in a 

 kind of waving, serpentine flight, alternately throwing its dark and 

 white plumage to the eye, it forms a very grand and interesting ap- 

 pearance. At such times, the gunners make prodigious slaughter 

 among them, while, as the showers of their companions fall, the 

 whole body often alight, or descend to the surface with them, 

 till the sportsman is completely satiated with destruction." This 

 species is about eight inches long and fifteen inches broad. 



The Golden Plover, Frost-bird, or Bull-head. (Ckaradrius fulvusvar. 



virginicus.) 



Fig. 3- 



This is one of our well-known and highly prized game-birds.- 

 They arrive on the coast of the Middle and Northern States, and 

 in the interior of some of the Western States, in spring and early 

 autumn. They winter in the South, principally upon the great 

 grassy ranges of Texas and northern Mexico. It forms one of the 

 most numerous bodies of the migratory birds, and may be seen in 

 flocks, on their arrival in the spring, numbering three or four 

 hundred. Their migrations usually take place at night, the birds 

 flying at a considerable height from the ground. During the day 

 they rest or seek for food, and, strangely enough, select not their 

 usually favorite marshes, but fields and cultivated ground. They 

 are brisk and nimble, running with great rapidity, and flying not 

 only swiftly, but gracefully. During the period of incubation, 

 they indulge in a variety of elegant gyrations in the vicinity of the 

 nest, and their plaintive, clear whistle is heard to most advantage 

 at that season. Worms, larvae, beetles, snails, and slugs consti- 

 tute their principal nourishment, and, in order to assist digestion, 

 small pebbles are also swallowed. Water would appear to be a 

 real necessary of life to these birds, as they love to wash and cleanse 

 their feathers in it daily. " When, in the spring-plowing, the rich 

 soil of our prairie States is turned up," says Bogardus, "a vast 

 number of fat worms are thrown to the surface. To pick up and 

 feed upon these, the Golden Plover will be seen following the 

 plowman along the furrow. Sometimes they fly a little ahead of 

 the plow and team, sometimes abreast of them, and all the time 

 some are wheeling and curling round and dropping in the furrow 

 which has just been made. At such times, they occasionally 

 become so bold and tame that they come quite close to the horses, 

 and I have known some to be knocked down and killed by the 

 driving-boys with their whips. ... At their first arrival the 

 flocks of Plover are rather wild and difficult to get at. In their 

 long journey on, and long flights from, the plains of Texas across 

 Arkansas, and along the Mississippi river, to Illinois, Missouri, 



