PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 
I31 
of some other species. Like the Snipe, they seem fond of 
damp meadows and marshes, and solitary individuals are often 
surprised by the sportsman in the manner of that bird. 
The Pectoral Sandpiper breeds in the Arctic and subarctic re- 
gions of North America, — from Greenland to Alaska —and in 
winter retires to the West Indies and southward. Large flocks of 
these birds migrate north and south across the prairies and throuo-h 
the valley of the great rivers of the West, but along the Atlantic se^'a 
board only a scattered few are seen in the s,iring, though durine 
the early autumn they appear in numbers. While on our coasts 
they mingle sociably with other small Sandpipers, but some of their 
manners and habits suggest the Snipe rather than the Sandpiper. 
ey frequent the salt-marshes and seaside meadows more than the 
sandy beaches, and the erratic flight of a flock when suddenly 
flushed Is peculiarly Snipe-like. ^ 
Nothing definite was known of the breeding-habits of these 
birds until recently, when our naturalists discovered them nesting 
m Alaska. Murdock found numbers at Point Barrow; then Nel- 
son made a study of them at St. Michael’s in 1879; and in 1883 the 
members of Lieutenant Ray’s party at Point Barrow were fortunate 
enough to secure several nests with eggs. 
In the mating season, which occurs after they have reached the 
vicinity of their nesting ground, the males become intensely excited 
m their efforts to gain the attention of the females and to keep near 
to one chosen for a mate. Tliey run along the sand with wings exten- 
ded or take short flights close to the ground, passing to and fro 
in front of the amorita, or whirling in graceful curves in the air 
above her, all the while uttering a deep and hollow booming, which 
resembles hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, or too-u, too-u, ioo-u, rapidly repeated 
in liquid musical tones. “ Whenever he pursues his love-making,” 
says Mr. Nelson, “ his rather low but pervading note swells and 
les in musical cadences, which form a striking part of the great 
ird chorus heard at this season in the North.” During these per- 
tormances the throat and breast are filled with air and puffed out 
o wice their natural extent, — whence the name Pectoral. When 
o thus inflated, the air-sac hangs an inch or more below the gen- 
thfe While with us these birds do not display 
snff breast, and the only note we hear from them is a low 
ioit tiueet. 
