52 THE CONDOR Vol. XXIII 
ground except by a very few pairs. In 1919 not over a dozen were found dur- 
ing the entire nesting season, when almost all of the available areas were seen. 
The country about Northwest Point is the chief site, but birds have been found 
near the coast on low land’ by Polovina seal rookery and on Telegraph Hill. 
There are large tracts of apparently suitable tundra which are left unoccupied. 
I know of but one set of eggs having been taken on that island (and it was by 
a native), so the scarcity cannot be attributed to the industry of egg hunters. 
Birds are éven more abundant on St. Paul in fall than on St. George and but 
few of them are shot for food at either place. . 
If a person climbs to the sandpiper country on St. George during May or 
June, one of his first surprises will be a series of notes very much like those of 
the flicker, a full deep whistle repeated in the same pitch about a dozen times 
in quick succession. The bird utters this while on the wing, most likely when 
it is coming toward the intruder with great speed. When close by it wheels 
and settles lightly on a nearby hummock or ‘‘niggerhead’’. One wing will be 
held vertically extended for a few seconds after alighting and may be flashed 
at short intervals thereafter. Another note for which I have no descriptive 
language always reminded me of the sound of tree frogs. It is the note usually 
given when the birds are on the ground. While neither can be called a song, 
they are very attractive and pleasant to the listener and most surprising to 
one familiar only with the ‘‘peep peep’’ of sandpipers in winter. 
The elevating of one wing is an action for which no logical reason can be 
given. It is indulged in by both male and female and at times when it cannot 
be considered a signal. Nor can it be taken as a warning to intruders because 
it is often seen when one’s presence is to them unknown. It is not seen after 
the breeding season is over and is no more explicable than the comparable 
‘“fiddliing’’ of our familiar crabs. Palmer (zbid., p. 401) noticed that the near 
wing was elevated first and might be followed by the other, but this does not 
seem to be the rule except when the bird is manifestly endeavoring to attract 
attention. For instance when one is lying concealed and the birds are follow- 
ing their own inclinations either wing may be elevated first. 
On the breeding grounds of St. George and St. Matthew the birds are very 
common, and from one to a dozen are in almost constant attendance upon the 
visitor. They sight him from afar and fly to meet him. Some bird will almost 
always try to lead him astray. If followed, it flies from knoll to knoll, often 
not more than twenty yards away. It remains in front of the visitor regardless 
of the direction he may take; whether toward or from the nest, makes no dif- 
ference. After several minutes of this a sudden flight, with the familiar 
‘‘song’’, is taken to some distant hill and the searcher for a nest is leit con- 
tused and confounded. 3 
A search for the nest will exhaust the patience of any except the most 
persistent collector. Messrs. Crompton and Partch have been more successful 
than any one else in locating them and all of us agree that when a bird flies 
to meet the visitor, as just described, it is a pure waste of time to watch or 
follow it. Every method known to us of locating nests by watching the actions 
of the parents has failed. We have located nests and then endeavored to 
establish rules for guidance with others, but no definite facts could be determ- 
ined. It was finally agreed that it was useless to watch a bird under any cir- 
cumstances more than fifteen minutes. If the location of the nest is not dis- 
closed in that time it is safe to assume that the mate is on it and it might be 
