234 
THE 
CANADIAN 
NATURALIST. 
Tringa Semipalmata, or T. Pusilla ) ; this numerous tribe 
is so much alike in general appearance^ that it is not easy 
for a common observer to know the species^ without an accu- 
rate examination and comparison. A few may be seen every 
summer^, just at this spot, but I have never met with them 
in any other. The land here is low ; scarcely above the 
bank of the river, which flows close beside the road on one 
hand ; and on the other is a large pond and marsh ; the latter 
clothed with willows, bushes^, and rushes. The road, you 
observe, is raised up, like a causeway ; yet in spring, when 
the river is swollen by the melting of the snows, it overflows 
this part of the road, and, with the adjacent pond, makes 
the surrounding meadows look like a miniature sea. On the 
sandy banks of this pond the little sandpipers run to and fro, 
picking up worms, insects, and small testacea. They run 
very fast, but do not readily fly, and when they do, it is 
only to a few yards, alighting again immediately. Many 
plants and animals seem in some degree peculiar to this spot ; 
though no doubt there are many other situations having the 
same character and equally congenial to their habits, w^here 
the same species may be found. A large and handsome 
flower, the Blue Iris ( Iris Versicolor ), haunts this place ; 
the beautiful blossom may now be seen capping the curious 
sword-shaped leaves. 
C. — What a light and feathery appearance a field of 
grass has at this season ! To what is it owing ? 
F, — The Red-top Grass ( Agrostis Vulgaris J, of which 
this field is chiefly composed, is now in flower : the blossoms 
of this grass grow in a large loose panicle, the anthers pro- 
ject from the glumes, and it is they that cause this downy 
lightness. 
C. — I have several times heard in the woods a very 
sweet but singular note, the author of which I cannot dis- 
cover. It consists of six notes deliberately uttered, the first 
