Summer and Fall Shore Bird Migra- 

 gration at Cape Cod — 1885. 



BY .1. C. CATIOON. 



Ill \hv August number of tlie O, and O. I gave 

 a list of llie shore bii'd migration at Monoraoy 

 Island. Below is a list of the summer and fall 

 migrants. No notes were taken between June 2(i 

 and July 13, as I was away from the island diu-- 

 ing that interval. 



July 12, weather fair; found four Seinipalmated 

 Sandpipers on the Hals and several [.east, do, on 

 the meadows ; Roseate and Jjeast Torn aliandani ; 

 Arctic Tern common ; yoniia; Si inlled Sandpipi.Ts 

 full grown. July 1;"!, fair ; iinv ai rivids noted. 

 Found four Scmiiialinaleil Sandpipers fecdin,n' 

 along flie sni f Ilie saiia' as Sanderlings. July I t, 

 cloudy Willi wind S, I-;. ; lieavy rain in llie morn- 

 ing. Tliisslorni In'oiiglit along a large nundicr 

 of Least and Seniipalmaled Sandpipers ; several 

 Least Tern collected were moulting. July 15, 

 fair and cooler; collected young I'iping Plover 

 which 



10 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 11-No. 1 



Tern co 



July i; 

 18, clea 



;ro full grown ; found a nest of the Least 

 niaining twf) eggs, incubation fresh. July 

 ■; Semipalinalcd Sandpipers abundant. 



foggy; (.■olleeted a Velvet Scoter. July 

 ir; new arrivals seen were live Willets and 

 several Pelrel, July 21, wind S. W. and l.li w 

 very Ircsh, rain fell in the afternoon ; found lonr 

 Red-breasted Snipe and several Seiuiiialinatrd 

 Sandpipers on the Hats ; two of tlie Snipe secured 

 were adults; saw two Hrealcr Yellow legs. July 

 2;), wind E; .saw a large flock ol ( Viol oul in llie 

 bay. July 27, wind S. E, ; among new arrivals 

 were several bunches of Sanderling and tlirec 

 adult Robin Snipe. July wind E.; .saw two 

 Richard.son's Jaegers ; Least Tern diminishing 

 in number. 



August 1, windE.; new arrivals wore a, small 

 number of Black-liellied Plover; Semipalmated 

 Plover alnindant. August 1, winil blowing 

 ■ fre.sli from S. E.; rained a part of llie day, 

 Aug.fi, wind N. E.; ibund R,(a.l-bivaslc<l Siiipr 

 and Turnstone connnon ; one large llock of aboiil 

 fifty Black bellied Plo\ ui seen ; " a W'illet and a 

 Ilndsonian Curlew noticed. Aug. 7. a bunch of 

 five Robin Snipe .seen. Aug. S, found a young 

 Least Tern that could hardly fly. Aug. i:!,' wind 

 S. W., foggy all day ; si.v young Bonaparte's Gulls, 

 tifteeu Greater Yellow-legs, and four Black Ducks 

 noted as new arrivals. Aug. l.j. wind S. W., light 

 rain in the morning; a large flock ot Yellow-legs 

 .seen; new arrival, a Black Ton; Pijiing l^lovi r 

 are leaving llie island. Aug, l.'>, wind N., blew 

 fresh ; nuuilaa- i,f Jflack Tern, iucrea.sed lo seven, 

 only one of which was an adull ; one Jaeger and 



several Greater Yellow-legs seen ; no Arctic Terns 

 seen for several days. Aug. 17, saw several flocks 

 of BlackdJcUied Plover. Aug. 18, wind S. W. ; a 

 flock of Golden Plover arrived to-day, but did 

 not make any .stop. Aug. 27, wind N. W., and 

 blew very fresh ; found a small l.iunch of seven 

 Pectoral Sandpipers in a meadow ; no Least Tern 

 seen ; saw one bunch of young Robin Snipe and 

 Turnstone together ; Sanderlings more abundant ; 

 two Maish TIawks, one Nighthawk and several 

 Summer Yellowbirds seen. Aug. 28, fair; col- 

 lected a male Solitary Sandpiper, one Baltimore 

 Oriole, one Summer Y'ellowbird and a female 

 Redstart. These I secui-ed among some old drift- 

 wood on the beach. Saw one Kingbird and cjuite 

 a number of Warblers, Sparrows and Swallows ; 

 Barn Swallows abundant; saw' a flock of ten 

 young Black Tern. Aug. 29, wind K. W. ; Sum- 

 mer Y'ellowbirds quite common. Aug. ol, wind 

 8. E., rain fell in the morning ; Black Tern very 

 fibundant ; saw as many a.s several hundred dur- 

 ing the day ; saw one flock 0/ twenty-three sitting 

 bn the flats, but did not observe an adult among 

 tliem ; one Golden Plover seen. 



September 1, wind S. E., and foggy ; saw a large 

 ,'lock of about one hundred Black-bellied Plover, 

 ■-'epl . 2, wind N. W. ; saw a young Rofiin Snipe ; 



cveral Great Northern Divers seen off in the bay. 

 Seiit. 3, wind S. ; Black Tern very abundant. 

 Sept. 4, wind S. W. ; saw a small flock of Black 

 Ducks ; Semipalmated Plover and Sandpiper's 

 growing less abundant. Two adult Roseate Tern 

 shot to-day; they had red bills same as the Com- 

 mon Tern ; one Tern secured had no tarsus, it be- 

 ing gone from the first joint above the foot. The 

 stump had healed and left a little hard bunch on 

 the end. Sept. 0, wind S. ; new arrival seen was 

 one Eskimo Curlew, which I flushed out of some 

 moss on the sand hill. Sept. 7, wind S., cloudy; 

 Roseate and Common Tern very abundant on the 

 sand bars ; one Jaeger seen. Sept. 8, wind N. E., 

 cloudy; Sanderlings less abundant, and nearly all 

 remaining arc young. Young Black-bellied 

 Plover seen to-day for the first time ; Richard.son's 

 Jiiegars common; large lumibers of White-bellied 

 and Barn Swallows flying about; Sharp-tailed 

 Pinches abundant. Sept. 9, wind 8. W., rained 

 ill day ; saw large numbers ot Black Tern feeding 

 Cm the meadows that were oveiflowcd ; Sander- 

 lings diminishing every day. Sept. 22, wind S. E., 

 rained part of the day ; several laigc flocks of 

 Black-bellied Plover arrived. Sept. 23, wind 

 blowing fresh from the N. W. ; the storm of last 

 night caused a "flight" of Shorebirds. I found 

 on the flats, at low tides, Sanderlings, Red-backed 

 Sandpipers (young) and Black-bellied Plover 



bnndant. On the meadows, which the rain had 



overflowed, I found Semipalmated, Least, Red- 

 backed and Pectoral Sandpipers abundant. 

 Greater Yellowdegs and Willets also seen on the 

 meadows. Collected two Hudsonian Curlew and 

 one Bonaparte's Sandpiper out of a flock of Semi- 

 palmated Sandpipers. After flushing the Pectoral 

 Sandpipers, noticed some would only fly a short 

 distance and drop down in the grass, while others 

 woidd jtraipup like the Wilson's Snipe and fly in 

 an irregular course until atcpiite an altitude, when 

 they would circle for a short time overhead, then 

 suddenly pitch down and alight in the same place 

 they started from. Wlien they fly a short dis- 

 tance their cry is a single low "tweet," but when 

 they spring up quickly and fly a long distance 

 their cry is louder and often repeated. Sept. 24, 

 while in the meadows collecting Pectoral Sand- 

 pipers, I had the good fortune to secure an adult 

 male Bufl-breasted Sandpiper that was leaving 

 the meadows high up in the air. Sept. 3.5, wind 

 N, blew very fresh in the afternoon ; .sliore birds 

 not as abundant as the day previous ; new arrival 

 was a Hudsonian Godwit, whicli I shot on the 

 flats. One small flock of Golden Plover seen. 

 Richard.son's Jaegers more abundant ; saw six at 

 one time chasing Tern. Sept. 26, wind S. ; only 

 a few Sanderlings seen ; Pectoral Sandpipers are 

 diminLshing in number.s. Found a Sora Rail dead 

 on the beach, probably killed by flying against a 

 stake. Sept. 38, wind N., cloudy with light rains 

 all day ; found Hudsonian Curlew, Greater Yel- 

 low-legs and young Red-breasted Sandpipers 

 common ; several small flocks of Black-beUied 

 Plover seen. Loons and Sea Coot flying about. 

 Sept. 29, wind N. ; Richardson's Jaegers com- 

 mon ; also saw two Long-tailed Jaegers ; collected 

 six Jaegers in different plumage. When one is 

 shot the others hangover it, so that many can be 

 killed at one time. Saw as many as twenty-flve 

 sitting on the flats. Several that I shot had sand 

 eels in their bills. Sept. 30, wind N. ; only a few 

 Pectoral Sandpipers seen on the meadows ; a large 

 flock of Black Ducks noticed. Shot an American 

 Bittern near a small pond hole. 



October 1, wind N. ; Jaegers abundant ; several 

 flocks of Sanderling seen, also a few Black-bellied 

 Plover. Oct. 2, wmd N. E., foggy; tound one 

 Bonaparte's Sandpiper on the flats in company 

 with Red-backed, do. Sanderlings scarce ; Terns 

 leaving. A small flight of Greater Yellow-legs 

 arrived last night. Oct. 3, wind W. : a few Sand- 

 eilings and Red-backed Sandpipers remain. 

 Greater Y'ellow-lcgs quite abundant ; a small 

 flock of the Black-bellied Plover seen. Saw 

 several Green-winged Teal and Shovellers in a 

 small pond on the meadows. Saw a Turnstone 

 on the beach. Large Gulls abundant. 



O. & O. XI. Jan. 1B86. p. f "/ 0 



