Shore Birds in the South. 
Editor Forest and Stream: 
From about the first of February, 1864, until 
March, 1866, I resided on one of the Sea Island 
plantations near the city of Port Royal, ten or 
twelve miles from the ocean, and in 1883, 1884, 
1885, 1886 and 1889 I visited the same plantation, 
Palmetto Island, for two or three weeks in April 
and May of each year. 
My purpose is to give some account of the 
water birds which came under my observation. 
There are extensive marshes in that region with 
tall, seed-like grass and irregular mud banks, 
with here and there raccoon-oyster beds which 
are covered by water at half to three-quarters 
- tide. These mud banks are the feeding grounds 
; of most of the birds, and from the house or 
the edge of the plantation some sixty yards in 
front, one can overlook a great many acres of 
them, and can plainly see the birds while feed¬ 
ing, frequently not more than one hundred yards 
away. 
My first observations were in 1864. and on 
May 2 of that year I wrote in my note book: 
. “Toward the first of March I noticed the 
marbled godwits ( Limosa fedoa) about Pal- 
i metto Island. All through the month and the 
! first part of April they were plenty. There were 
a few .during the last two weeks in April, 
but, in common with the long-billed curlew 
| (Numenius longirostris) , they mostly disap¬ 
peared by the middle of the month. Willets 
; (Symphcmia scmipalmata) were numerous dur¬ 
ing February, March and April. Hudsonian cur¬ 
lew ( Numenius hudsonicus) made their appear¬ 
ance early in April and were quite plenty during 
[the month. I saw several large flocks of black- 
j bellied plover ( Charadrius squatarola ) and 
lowitchers ( Macrorhamphus griseus ) about the 
aoth of April, and from that time until now they 
I have been plenty. Red-backed sandpipers 
j (Tringa alpina pacidca) also appeared with 
hem.” 
On different days for the next three weeks 
|1 made note of seeing large flocks of the Hud- 
J ’Onian and redbacks, and some of the other 
j n’rds, but about the 25th of May they had all 
I tone on their way North, except a few willets 
md long-billed curlew, which remained all sum- 
ner. 
In 1864 and 1865, while I was living at the 
plantation, there were comparatively few of 
hese birds to be seen on their return from the 
1 Vorth in August and September. Whenever the 
ide was low enough for the birds to feed on 
he mud, there they were excepting at night; 
| md when the tide drove them from the mud, 
hey would fly to the higher ground, sandflats, 
! tc.. around the edges of the plantations, there 
I o rest until the tide had ebbed sufficiently to 
| termit a return to the mud, and they rarely 
-made the mistake of going back too soon. The 
| edbacks, however, did not feed on nor frequent 
; he mud fat least I never saw them there), but 
1 onfined themselves to the sands or shell banks 
I it the edge of the river. 
I 
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jl 
1 
I 
While all the birds were plenty in 1864 and 
1865, great changes have taken place since then, 
for in 1883 to 1886 and in 1889—the last time I 
was there—the Hudsonian curlew was the only 
kind whose numbers might be said to be un¬ 
diminished. I did not see one of the marbled 
godwits, and but three or four long-billed cur¬ 
lew during those five seasons. Black-billed 
plover, dowitchers and red-backed sandpipers 
were very scarce and not many willets were to 
be seen. 
Hudsonian Curlew.— The Hudsonian curlews 
being the principal standby, I will first give my 
observations on these birds. They arrive in 
numbers from the South about the middle of 
April, and remain five or six weeks before leav¬ 
ing for their breeding grounds. They have a 
regular flight just before sunrise from their 
roosting place (some sandy island on the coast, 
it was Egg Bank, in 1865) to the marshes and 
hack again at sunset. Large numbers of them 
spend the day somewhere on Broad River, some 
miles to the westward of Palmetto Island, and 
their line of flight at sunset carries them about 
a mile to the southward of the house. 
I have frequently sat on the piazza and. with 
an opera glass, watched this evening flight of the 
“jack” curlew, as gunners call them, which lasts 
perhaps half to three-quarters of an hour, there 
often being several flocks in sight at the same 
time. Usually there are from fifty to one hun¬ 
dred birds in each flock, but sometimes there are 
many more, perhaps two or three thousand birds 
in all. Generally they fly steadily, but some¬ 
times change their formation, and are apt to 
string out rather than bunch. 
I have often watched the morning flight from 
my “blind” on a sand flat about half a mile from 
the house. The flocks average much smaller 
than in the evening. The first ones are those 
that are bound for their feeding grounds on 
Broad River and are up in the air some sixty 
to seventy-five yards; some pass directly over 
my head, others to one side or the other. The 
formation is usually regular, like one side of a 
V, and at such times I have never heard them 
whistle. 
When the Hudsonian starts to fly, or is look¬ 
ing for company, or a place to alight, it gen¬ 
erally utters its sharp staccato whistle of sev¬ 
eral notes, and again when in flocks high in the 
air looking for some place to alight, they have 
another peculiar rolling or pur-r-r-ring whistle 
which they keep up for a few seconds and which 
is very musical and pleasant to hear. I do not 
remember, however, to have heard any sound 
from those on the ground in answer to calls 
from those in the air. 
When a large flock is approaching decoys, no 
matter how closely the birds may be flying, they 
will, just before getting within gunshot, break 
up and scatter so that generally the gunner has 
to pick out single birds, but on two or three 
occasions, when the decoys were about twenty- 
five yards to windward of my blind, I have shot 
six or eight birds at a time from flocks about 
forty yards to the leeward, just as they are turn¬ 
ing to come to them. Ordinarily they are very 
shy, and will not come within gunshot of de¬ 
coys, even though the gunner be well concealed; 
but as a remarkable instance to the contrary, I 
was once standing up in plain sight getting ready 
to go home, my gun being about ten yards from 
me on the sand, when happening to turn my 
head I saw two Hudsonians close behind me 
headed for the decoys. I rushed for my gun, 
picked it up, looked for the birds, saw one just 
as it was alighting, and killed it. That bird must 
have passed within a very few yards of me 
while I was running. 
When on the sand or shell banks they are not 
apt to be shy of a boat, and one can frequently 
sail or row quietly within easy gunshot without 
alarming them. 
When the sands have been wet by the pre¬ 
vious high tide, there are great numbers of 
fiddler crabs on them, but I have never observed 
the Hudsonians eat any of them, probably be¬ 
cause they could get food more to their liking 
on the mud. 
Red-Backed Sandpiper.— I saw but few of 
these birds in the fall when they are all in the 
brown plumage, but there were many in May, 
1864 and 1865, when, without exception, all were 
in their handsome spring dress. They are tame, 
fly closely, and a great many can sometimes be 
killed from a flock while on the wing. There 
were some to be seen during the later springs, 
but not nearly as many as in the earlier ones. 
Greater Yei.lowlegs ( Totanus melanoleucus). 
—A few are seen or heard daily during the 
spring season and frequently in the fall, but 
either alone or in pairs; they do not come in 
flocks. 
The yellowleg (Totanus flavipcs) is rarely 
seen. I recall but two instances myself. 
Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) .— A few 
find their way to the sandflats. but the ocean is 
too far away for many of them to appear at 
Palmetto Island. I have seen great numbers of 
them on Egg Bank in St. Helena Sound. 
With the exception of the references made to 
Egg Bank, what I have written applies to my 
observations at one plantation only, and as the 
Sea Islands are very extensive, I cannot give 
any estimate as to the total number of birds 
that frequent them. Joseph R. Kendall. 
Feathered Hats. 
Virden, Ill., Nov. 13. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: I have seen recently some ladies’ hats- 
decorated with the plumes of the white heron 
and breast of grebe. Is there not a national 
law bearing on this subject? And did not the 
wholesale milliners agree to discontinue the sale 
of these and other bird feathers? It does seem 
that it takes a long time to educate the public 
to appreciate the importance of protecting our 
birds. M. H. Farmer. 
The Forest and Stream may be obtained from 
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supply you regularly. 
