147 
261. Upland Plover, bartramian sandpiper, quaily. Bartramia longicauda. L, 
11-50. Plate XIX B. A rather large ochraceous Shore Bird inhabiting the upland fields 
and prairies. 
Distinctions. About the size of a Greater Yellow-legs with a bill rather shorter than 
the head, and strongly ochraceous in colour. It can hardly be confused with any other 
species. The first primaries are saw-toothed, marked with dark on a ground of white 
(Figure 173). The much larger Long-billed and Hudsonian Curlews are the only other 
Shore Birds with this wing-quill saw-toothing ( See Figures 174, 175), but the ground 
colour is buff instead of white. 
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Figure 173 
First primary of Upland Plover, from below; natural size. 
Field Marks. A rather large, buff-coloured Wader with bill about as long as head, 
much smaller than either the Curlews or the Godwits. Unlike other Shore Birds, it inhabits 
high ground. On the ground it has a short-legged, round-headed appearance and an action 
that suggests a young Prairie Chicken rather than a Wader. 
Distribution. North and South America. Breeding irregularly and locally across the 
continent from far south of the border, north to Alaska and southern Mackenzie. 
Though the name Plover is commonly accepted, this Bpecies is a true 
Sandpiper, aberrant in habit, having deserted the shores and mud-flats 
for the dry uplands. The term Bartramian Sandpiper is a more satis- 
factory name, honouring a great ornithologist and expressing the true 
relationship of the bird. It is one of the most attractive of the prairie 
inhabitants. It has long, loud, clear whistles, variously modulated, which 
it gives in the spring and early summer. Sometimes these notes are 
accompanied by a remarkable dance flight; at other times given from the 
ground or some slight elevation such as the top of a fence post, where, with 
wings raised over the back, it poses in statuesque grace. It is a confirmed 
grasshopper destroyer and is probably worth much more in that capacity 
than as an article of food. 
263. Spotted Sandpiper, pewit, peet-weet. teeter, tip-up. Actitis macularia. 
L, 7-50. Plate XX A. 
Distinctions. Adults have decidedly round breast spots and a slight greenish lustre 
on the back. Young autumn birds resemble the Solitary, but are distinguished by white 
instead of barred axillars (compare with Figure 171). 
Field Marks. Size and distinct round spots on breast. When flying it may be dis- 
tinguished from the Solitary Sandpiper, which it most resembles, by the white line along 
the ends of the secondaries and the much smaller amount of black and white barring on 
the tail. The Spotted Sandpiper teeters constantly, whereas the Solitary nods, and teeters 
only occasionally. In this queer, spasmodic action, which seems more or less involuntary, 
the legs are momentarily flexed and the forepart of the body is jerked down as the tail is 
jerked up. This action is indulged in continually. Standing at ease on a stone at the 
water’s edge it teeters; every pause in its little excursions is filled with a succession of 
teeters; and it stops even in full career to punctuate with a teeter. Its wing stroke is 
distinctive; its stiffly held, down-curved wings at the bottom of each stroke being very 
different from the long, flowing beat of any other similar Wader. 
Nesting. Slight hollow in ground at no great distance from water in the shelter of a 
clump of shrub or bunch of grass. 
Distribution. Breeds over the whole of Canada north to tree limit. Common through- 
out its range. 
91054 — 10J 
