63 



BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER. 

 TRINGA BARTRAMIA. 

 [Plate LIX.— Fig. 2.] 



Peaxe's Museum, ^*o, 40i0. 



THIS bird being as far as I can discover a new species, un- 

 described by any former author, I have honored it with the name 

 of my very worthy friend, near whose Botanic Gardens, on the 

 banks of the river Schuylkill, I first found it. On the same mea- 

 dows I have since shot several other individuals of the species, and 

 have thereby had an opportunity of taking an accurate drawing 

 as well as description of it. 



Unlike most of their tribe, these birds appeared to prefer run- 

 ning about among the grass, feeding on beetles and other winged 

 insects. There were three or four in company; they seemed ex- 

 tremely watchful, silent, and shy, so that it was always with ex- 

 treme difficulty I could approach them. 



These birds are occasionally seen there during the months of 

 August and September, but whether they breed near I have not 

 been able to discover. Having never met with them on the sea 

 shore, I am persuaded that their principal residence is in the in- 

 terior, in meadows and such like places. They run with great 

 rapidity, sometimes spreading their tail and dropping their wings, 

 as birds do who wish to decoy you from their nest; when they 

 alight they remain fixed, stand very erect, and have two or three 

 sharp whistling notes as they mount to fly. They are remarkable 

 plump birds weighing upwards of three quarters of a pound; their 

 flesh is superior, in point of delicacy, tenderness and flavour, to 

 any other of the tribe with which I am acquainted. 



