442 FOREST AND STREAM AUGUST, 1920 
SOME MORE NOTES ON SHORE-BIRDS 
WHILE WE SWELTER IN MIDSUMMER HEAT, SHORE-BIRDS FROM THE FAR NORTH 
ARE ALREADY£HURRYING?ALONG*OUR SHORES TOWARDS THEIR WINTER GROUNDS 
By JOHN T. NICHOLS 
XV. The Phalaropes 
T HE phalaropes are among the most 
interesting of shore-birds. There 
are three known species. One of 
these, the Wilson’s phalarope, is mostly 
confined to the interior of North Amer- 
ica; the other two, the red and northern 
phalaropes, are circumpolar, breeding in 
high northern latitudes and migrating 
south in winter across the Equator. Con- 
trary to the usual rule in birds, female 
phalaropes are larger and more brightly 
colored than the males, and although, of 
course, the female lays the eggs, it is the 
male that sits on them. Phalaropes 
characteristically swim on the water like 
miniature ducks. Except when on their 
breeding grounds the red and northern 
species occur at sea in flocks, the former 
especially being rarely found near the 
coast. These pelagic species have broad 
flaps on the sides of their toes which aid 
them in swimming. Wilson’s and north- 
ern phalarope have very slender bills, 
whereas the bill of the red is broader 
from side to side. The Wilson’s phalar- 
ope is the largest of the three, only a 
little smaller than the lesser yellowleg; 
the other two are scarcely larger than 
the smallest sandpipers or “oxeyes”. The 
red phalarope has the entire under parts 
brownish red in summer, but in winter 
all three species are gray above and 
white below. There are comparatively 
few records for the Wilson’s phalarope 
on the Atlantic seaboard. In September, 
1918, I had the pleasure of seeing one 
on a piece of dead meadow at the south 
shore of Long Island. A flock of about 
twenty lesser yellowlegs came to my de- 
coys and alighted on the meadow. With 
them were a few birds of other species 
and one in particular I had noticed on 
the wing as being much whiter than its 
associates. When the flock put down this 
proved to be a Wilson’s phalarope, which 
swam about in the puddles between the 
dead marsh stubble where the other birds 
were feeding. Occasionally individuals 
of the northern phalarope may be seen 
almost any year over these meadows in 
southward migration. They come to de- 
coys as do other shore-birds, and most 
of them are in the streaked plumage of 
the young of the year. Floating water- 
weed is a favorite place for them to 
alight. They walk about over it or swim 
across bits of open water indifferently. 
On taking wing they utter a chipping 
note suggesting somewhat the short 
auerulous “kep” note of the sanderling. 
The white-rump 
XVI. Ringneck and Piping Plover 
T HE little ringneck, scarcely larger 
than an “oxeye”, is one of our com- 
monest shore-birds. Besides being 
much smaller, it differs notably in color 
from the killdeer, in that it has a single 
black band across the white under parts. 
Its upper parts are almost the exact 
color of mud or wet sand on the coast- 
wise flats where the bird is abundant 
spring and fall. 
It also occurs on the marshes and to 
a less extent on the beaches, and is occa- 
sionally found inland. When sufficiently 
numerous it associates in larger or smal- 
ler flocks of its own kind. Single birds 
travel with the smaller “oxeyes” or with 
larger species such as the yellowlegs, be- 
ing strong fliers, and apparently able to 
keep up with these larger birds without 
difficulty. The ringneck’s ordinary note 
is a short mellow whistled “tyoo-eep”. 
The abundant ringed plover of Europe 
differs very little from our ringneck. 
The color of the piping plover is very 
interesting to compare with that of the 
ringneck, being much paler, and match- 
ing so well the dry sands of the ocean 
beaches where they nest as to render the 
bird almost invisible when motionless. 
This species is about the size of the ring- 
neck with a not dissimilar color pattern, 
but the dark ring is imperfect, very sel- 
dom meeting in front. It may be found 
breeding sparingly along the coast as far 
south as Virginia, and in winter gathers 
in flocks on the Florida beaches. The 
thought of its plaintive piping summer 
notes takes me back to the sand dunes 
of Cape Cod standing in the dazzling 
sunshine. I have known of a single pip- 
ing plover coming to decoys set out on 
the meadows for migrant shore-birds, 
showing to what an extent shore-birds 
of different tastes and habits associate 
during the migration period, for the bird 
has very little affinity for the meadows. 
A third species of small plover breeds 
along the beaches of our southern coasts, 
namely the Wilson’s plover. This has 
upper parts intermediate in tone between 
those of the others, is a little larger 
than either, with a much longer and 
larger bill. Its notes with which I am 
familiar are chirping in character, quite 
different from those of the other two. 
XVII. The Solitary Sandpiper 
T HE solitary sandpiper is intermedi- 
ate in size and appearance between 
the smaller spotted sandpiper and 
the larger yellowleg. It is characteristic 
of woodland ponds and streams, seen 
singly or two or three together, and in 
small flocks of perhaps half a dozen birds 
during the southward migration. On 
taking wing it has a sharp “peet weet” 
note almost identical with some of the 
spotted sandpiper’s calls. In the air the 
very dark blackish under-surface of its 
wings is diagnostic, and birds on the 
ground frequently raise the wings over 
the back, displaying this mark to advan- 
tage. In alighting the solitary sandpiper 
generally drops down abruptly, and then 
spreads the tail, which at a distance 
looks white with a black center. In mi- 
gration it may be seen flying over the 
meadows less rarely than is sometimes 
supposed, but very seldom comes to de- 
coys set out for other species. It shares 
with the green sandpiper of Europe the 
remarkable habit for a shore-bird of lay- 
ing its eggs in the abandoned nest of a 
robin, grackle or other tree-nesting bird. 
In September, 1917, three or four soli- 
tary sandpipers frequented the muddy 
edge of a small woodland pond near my 
home. They moved about rather slug- 
gishly on the mud and in the edge of the 
water to the depth of their thighs, every 
once and a while bobbing the head and 
neck, a habit shared by the spotted sand- 
piper, both yellowlegs and willet. At 
frequent intervals they stopped and 
scratched the head with one foot. They 
bathed thoroughly, ducking and splash- 
ing and sitting in the water soaking, and 
at the conclusion of the bath the birds 
tripped out on to the mud, raised the 
wings once or twice and preened them- 
selves thoroughly. 
XVIII. Willet 
M OST of the shore-birds breed in the 
north, some of them even in the 
polar regions, but the willet is a 
more southern species, whose nesting 
