LITTLE SANDPIPER, 
281 
toes. Now, reader, if in such large species as the Grus Americana , for 
example, the young has been palmed on the world of science as a distinct 
species for nearly a century past, without any other kind of reason or proof 
than that obtained from mere dried skins, can we be surprised, that in birds 
so small as the present, opportunities should have occurred of committing 
errors ? My opinion, which I do not present to you without due considera- 
tion, is, that we have in the United States only the diminutive species badly 
figured by Wilson, and almost as carelessly described by that wonderful 
man. To enter upon a long discussion as to the identity of the present bird 
with any of the small Tringas enumerated by European authors, would be' 
to me quite as irksome as it would prove unprofitable to you, for there 
scarcely exists a single description of these birds sufficiently accurate to 
enable one to decide with certainty. All are as nearly as possible of the 
same size and colour, excepting in those deviations dependent upon age, and 
the different state of plumage. But in the most intimately allied species 
there are always marked differences in habits, and especially in the sound of 
the voice. 
That this species is naturally disposed to seek alpine sections of the 
country for the purpose of reproduction, I obtained abundant proof whilst 
in Labrador, where I found it plentiful, and breeding on the moss-clad crests 
of the highest rocks, within short distances of the sea. There are means 
through which the experienced student of Nature may discover the hidden 
treasures of birds of this family, which to others would prove useless, and 
which I shall here point out. At all periods, excepting those at which they 
have nests containing eggs, or young so small and delicate as to require all 
the care of their parents, the flight of the present species usually resembles 
that of the Common Snipe, Scolopax Wilsonii ; but when startled from the 
nest, or from any place in its immediate vicinity, it rises on wing, and 
moves off low over the ground with deeply incurved wings, and with a 
whirring motion of these organs, which, if as rapid as that of a Partridge, 
would appear quite similar ; but, on such occasions, our bird moves slowly 
before you, and instead of uttering the note of independence, as it were, 
which it emits at other times while freely and fearlessly travelling, it gives 
out sounds weakened as if by grief or anxiety, for the purpose of inducing 
you to follow it. If on the ground, it acts in a similar manner, moves off 
slowly, and limping as if crippled, and this at times quite as much as if you 
had really come upon it while on its nest, or surprised it with its young. 
On all such occasions, reader, you ought to mark well the spot from which 
the bird has started, and, to assure yourself that your eye may not be 
deceived, throw your cap or hat at your feet to serve as a beacon, should 
