BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
95 
and whole plumage bristling up, seemed swelled to twice her usual size. 
The young crowded together behind her, apparently sensible of their 
perilous situation, moving backwards and forwards as she advanced or 
retreated. This interesting scene lasted for at least ten minutes; the 
strength of the poor parent began evidently to flag, and the attacks of 
the squirrel became more daring and frequent, when my good friend, 
like one of those celestial agents who, in Homer’s time, so often decided 
the palm of victory, stepped forward from his retreat, drove the assail¬ 
ant back to his hole, and rescued the innocent from destruction.” To 
escape capture when wounded the Tilt-up will resort to many devices. 
One day when out shooting along Beaver creek, a tributary of the Bran¬ 
dywine, about two miles from West Chester, I crippled one of these 
birds ; it fell to the ground and ran rapidly to the edge of the stream, 
which at this point was nrobably ten feet wide. The water was about a 
foot deep, perfectly clear, and, except on one side for about eighteen 
inches, was dammed back and remained quite motionless. I approached 
the bird, when, to my great surprise, it plunged into the water and went 
down to the sandy bottom like a stone. It ran on the bottom seemingly 
without any difficulty, and even through the swiftly running water along 
the edge, came up on the opposite side of the stream and thrust its head 
into some long grass, but kept its body submerged. The bird repeated 
this performance three times before I secured it. The Tilt-up is not gre¬ 
garious. 
The Spotted Sandpiper is also known by many as Peet-weet, a name 
given in imitation of its rather shrill cry. This species feeds almost ex¬ 
clusively on insects, such as beetles, flies, grasshoppers, larvae, worms, etc. 
Genus NUMENTTJS Brisson. 
Numenius longirostris Wilson. 
Long-billed Curlew ; Sickle-bill. 
Description. 
“ The largest American species of this genus ; bill very long, much curved ; upper 
mandible longer than the under, somewhat knobbed at the tip ; wing rather long ; 
legs moderate ; toes united at base ; entire upper parts pale-rufous, tinged with ashy ; 
every feather with transverse and confluent bands of brownish-black, most numerous 
and predominating on the back and scapulars ; secondary quills, under wing-coverts, 
and axillaries, bright rufous ; primaries with their outer webs brownish-black, and 
their inner webs rufous, with transverse bands of black ; under parts pale-rufous, 
with longitudinal lines of black on the neck and sides ; tail rufous, tinged with ashy, 
transversely barred with brownish-black ; bill brownish-black ; base of under man¬ 
dible reddish-yellow; legs bluish-brown ; specimens vary to some extent in the 
shade of the rufous color of the plumage, and very much in the length of the bill ; 
the rufous color is probably more distinct in the young. Length about 25 inches 
(extent about 38) ; tail’4 ; bill 5 to 8 ; tarsus 2| inches.”— B. B. of N. A. 
Habitat.— Temperate North America, migrating south to Guatemala and the West 
Indies. Breeds in the South Atlantic states, and in the interior, through most of its 
North American ran^e. 
