162 
PfLECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOLA1. 
approached ; but this is probably owing to the intrusions upon its privacy by the 
throng of summer visitors to places in which this bird was once abundant, and from 
which it has been forced to depart. From very many of our most frequented beaches 
in New England and New Jersey this graceful and attractive species has been entirely 
driven ; and in many others where a few still remain their wildness gives them, in 
all probability, their only chance for existence. 
In Wilson’s day the Piping Plover was very abundant during the summer on the 
low sandy shores all along our sea-coast, from Cape May northward ; and since then, 
and until within twenty years past, it was frequently seen on all the beaches of 
Massachusetts. This bird lives near the edge of the sea, always on sandy beaches, 
feeding at low water, on the sandy flats, among the sea-weecls of the uncovered rocks, 
and also on muddy flats. Its food is various forms of minute marine life — worms, 
Crustacea, and the like. It rarely flies while feeding, unless alarmed ; but glides along 
with a peculiar and rapid gait over the surface of the flat sand. At liigh-tide it resorts 
to the sandy uplands just above the water ; and in these places deposits its eggs in 
depressions on the bare sand. The eggs — four in number — are so similar to the 
surrounding objects, that they are not readily recognized; and if approached, the 
parents resort to simple, but usually successful, artifices to draw away the intruder — 
simulating lameness, and fluttering near the ground as if disabled. The young are 
able to run on leaving the 'shell, and are led by the mother to feed. They also 
resemble the sandy soil on which they move, and instantly squat if approached, 
remaining immovable, and will almost allow themselves to be trodden upon rather 
than by their motion allow their presence to be revealed. During incubation the 
parents rarely sit upon their eggs, except in the night, or unless the weather is damp ; 
but always keep in the neighborhood, and watch over their treasures with great 
solicitude. 
The notes of this Plover are remarkably musical and pleasing, and its specific 
name is one not undeserved. Where it can be seen in its natural condition, in a 
region where it has never been disturbed or made apprehensive by intruders, it is a 
pleasing object as, gracefully gliding over the sandy flats, and uttering from time to 
time its soft and plaintive note, it moves rapidly along. 
If, when on the nest, this bird be too nearly approached, it immediately endeavors 
to attract attention by spreading out its wings and tail, dragging itself along as if 
moving with great difficulty, and at the same time uttering a peculiar squeaking cry. 
Then, if successful in causing the intruder to abandon the search for the nest, it 
glides rapidly away, and is soon out of reach. 
This species is found along the coast as far to the eastward as Eastport, but 
becomes quite rare in that neighborhood, and only a few are seen at Grand Menan. 
Audubon states that he met with it as far north as the Magdalen Islands, where he 
found it paired and with eggs on the 11th of June, 1S33. The same writer mentions 
having seen these birds breeding in Florida as early as the 3d of May ; so that, if he 
is correct, 1 they are found with more or less abundance along our entire Atlantic 
coast. Mr. Donald Gunn procured four specimens at Lake Winnipeg. Dr. Gundlach 
has informed us that he found them breeding, and procured their eggs, in Cuba. 
They are only partially migratory, leaving our more northern shores in the winter, 
and are found from October to April on the sandy beaches of the Carolinas and 
Florida. They move south in the fall in family groups of five or six, and after 
1 Mr. C. B. Cory found this species abundant at the Magdalen Islands in 1878, and Mr. W. A. Stearns 
has recently reported it as common in Southern Labrador. — T. A. A. 
