Chapter C: J. Maynard (1896) found them breeding in Florida, during the first (3)

_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Ecuador, Chaupicuz, March 30; Chiapas, Comitan, March 29; Florida, Indian Key, March 17, St. Marks, March 23, Deer Park, March 24, and Leon County, March 25; Alabama, Barachias, March 7, Coosada, March 22, and Sand Mountain, March 29; Georgia, Macon, March 18, and Savannah, March 23; South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, March 11, and Frogmore, March 24; North Carolina, Raleigh, March 28; Virginia, Alexandria, March 22; District of Columbia, Washington, March 21; Pennsylvania, Marietta, March 27, Plymouth, April 10, and Erie, April 11; New Jersey, Haddonfield, April 7, and Cape May, April 12; New York, Long Island, April 1, Watertown, April 6, and Amagansett, April 11; Connecticut, Jewett City, April 16, and Saybrook, April 22; Rhode Island, Newport, April 29; Massachusetts, Woods Hole, April 10, Salem, April 12, and Cape Cod, April 12; Vermont, Woodstock, April 17, Bennington, April 22, and Rutland, April 26; Maine, Pittsfield, April 14, Plymouth, April 25, and Portland, April 30; Louisiana, New Orleans, March 9, Hester, March 16, and Lobdell, March 19; Mississippi, Biloxi, March 10, and Rodney, March 27; Tennessee, Nashville, March 31; Kentucky, Guthrie, March 20; Missouri, St. Louis, March 17, Appleton City, March 19, and Kahoka, March 20; Illinois, Rockford, March 19, Lebanon, March 20, and Canton, March 27; Indiana, Bicknell, March 13, Vigo County, March 19, and Vincennes, April 1; Ohio, Oberlin, March 20, Berlin Center, March 23, and Columbus, March 29; Michigan, Ann Arbor, March 15, Plymouth, April 8, and Livonia, April 12; Ontario, Forest, April 16, London, April 17 and Preston, April 18; Iowa, Storm Lake, March 25, Wall Lake, March 30, and Hillsboro, March 31; Wisconsin, Delavan, March 24, Milford, April 10, and Stoughton, April 11; Minnesota, Lanesboro, April 8, North Star, April 9, and St. Cloud, April 16; Texas, Bonham, March 5, Mont Belvieu, March 8, Dallas, March 10, and Corpus Christi, March 13; Oklahoma, Copan, March 31; Kansas, Girard, March 16, Richmond, March 28, Topeka, April 1, and Onaga, April 7; Nebraska, Falls City, April 6, Badger, April 7 and Syracuse, April 9; South Dakota, Vermilion, April 9, Grand View, April 14, and Rapid City, April 15; North Dakota, Argusville, April 26, Larimore, April 26, and Marstonmoor, April 30; Manitoba, Aweme, April 26, Reaburn, April 30, Winnipeg, May 2, and Two Rivers, May 3; Saskatchewan, South qu’Appelle, April 16, Wiseton, April 25, and Indian Head, May 2; Colorado, Denver, April 18, and Colorado Springs, April 28; Wyoming, Lake Como, May 5; Montana, Billings, April 23, Columbia Falls, April 27, and Terry, May 10; Alberta, Flagstaff, May 2, Alliance, May 7, and Red Deer, May 11; and British Columbia, Osoyoos Lake, May 25.

Late dates of spring departure are: Argentina, Buenos Aires, April 3, Tucuman, April 5, and Baradero, April 13; Bolivia, Piedra Blanca, April 23; Brazil, Tonantino, May 7; Guatemala, Duenas, April 12; Mexico, Chiapas, Teopisca, May 7; Yucatan, Cancun Island, April 19; Vera Cruz, Lake Catemaco, May 5; Florida, Garden Key, May 2, Loggerhead Key, May 7, and Pensacola, May 9; Georgia, Savannah, April 28; Louisiana, Lobdell, May 15, and New Orleans, May 19; Mississippi, Biloxi, May 16; and Texas, Brownsville, April 15, Bonham, May 12, and Huntsville, May 18.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: New Mexico, Glenrio, July 25; Texas, San Angelo, July 4, and Lipscomb, July 10; Louisiana, New Orleans, July 5, and Abbeville, July 25; Alabama, Montgomery, July 28, and Barachias, August 22; Florida, Pensacola, August 9, and Arcadia, August 22; the Bahama Islands, Mariguana, August 5; the Lesser Antilles, Barbados, August 12, and Granada, August 24; Mexico, Jalisco, Chapata, August 27; Costa Rica, September 5; Panama, Gatun, September 1; Colombia, Cienaga, September 12; Ecuador, Carapungo, August 10, and Cerro Campania, September 24; Brazil, Matto Grosso, September 26; Paraguay, Puerto Pinasco, September 29, and Concepcion, October 3.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta, Red Deer River, September 22; Montana, Big Sandy, September 6; Wyoming, Little Medicine, August 15; Colorado, Fort Lyon, September 2; New Mexico, Glenrio, September 11; Manitoba, Treesbank, September 7, Margaret, September 18, and Aweme, September 28; North Dakota, Marstonmoor, September 15, and Westhope, September 24; South Dakota, Huron, September 2, Sioux Falls, September 6, and Forestburg, September 30; Nebraska, Dewitt, September 21, Badger, September 28, and Valentine, October 5; Kansas, near Wichita, October 3, Topeka, October 13, and Onaga, October 15; Texas, Grapevine, September 25, Gainesville, September 28, and Corpus Christi, October 2; Minnesota, Lanesboro, August 22, and St. Vincent, August 31; Iowa, Emmetsburg, October 14, Newton, October 22, and Grinnell, November 2; Michigan, Livonia, September 18, and Detroit, October 20; Ohio, Lakeside, October 13, Scio, October 17, and Waverly, October 23; Illinois, La Grange, October 5, Belvidere, October 24, and Rantoul, November 29; Missouri, Monteer, September 17, and Jasper City, September 27; Kentucky, Lexington, October 11; Louisiana, New Orleans, October 7; Maine, Pittsfield, September 22; Vermont, St. Johnsbury, September 25; Massachusetts, Harvard, September 14, Taunton, September 19, and Woods Hole, September 29; Rhode Island, Block Island, September 6; Connecticut, Hartford, September 3, and Litchfield, September 6; New York, Phelps, September 14, Montauk, September 17, Orient Point, September 23, and Floral Park, October 20; New Jersey, Absalom Light, September 15; Pennsylvania, Erie, September 22, Germantown, October 2, and Bridesburg, October 18; Virginia, Alexandria, November 5; North Carolina, Weaverville, November 10; South Carolina, Mt. Pleasant, October 28; Georgia, Savannah, September 20; Alabama, Barachias, October 26; Florida, Key West, October 3; Costa Rica, San Jose, November 15; Nicaragua, Escondido River, November 26; Panama, Culebra, October 22, and Davila, November 30 and Gatun, December 8; Guiana, Cayenne, October 27; Peru, Cosnipata, October 3; and Brazil, Allianca, November 9.

_Casual records._--A specimen of the upland plover taken February 8, 1923 at Deception Island, South Shetlands, must be considered accidental, as this is far south of its normal winter range (Bennett, 1926). The species has been reported as occasional in spring in Newfoundland (Macoun) and one was obtained on Sable Island in 1868 (Gilpin). There are several records for Quebec (Montreal and Godbout) from May 7 to October. Two have been taken in Bermuda (September 20, 1874, and September 18, 1875). In Porto Rico one was obtained by Stahl between 1878 and 1881 (Gundlach); F. A. Potts reports that he saw one September 10, 1921 near Central Aguirre, collected one from a flock of 15 on September 13, 1921, near Santa Isabel, and saw still another August 26, 1926 near Fortuna. On the Pacific coast south of British Columbia, it is known from a specimen taken August 8, 1896, at Tule Lake, California, and one taken at Sulphur Springs, Arizona, August 18, 1874.

There are six records for England, Warwick, October 31, 1851, Cambridge, December 12, 1854, Bigswear, January 19, 1855, Falmouth November 13, 1865, Boulmer, November 21, 1879 and the Parret River in Somersetshire (date ?); one for Denmark Tim, November 3, 1920; one for Malta, November 17, 1865; one for Holland (Meyer); one for Germany, Hessen (Naumann); and one for Italy, Liguria, October, 1859. It also was taken near Sydney, Australia, in 1865 (Gould).

_Egg dates._--New England and New York: 10 records, April 28 to June 13. Pennsylvania and New Jersey: 15 records, May 6 to June 11; 8 records, May 15 to 27. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Dakotas, and Minnesota: 86 records, May 4 to July 1; 43 records, June 1 to 15. Ohio to Iowa and Kansas: 22 records, April 30 to June 17; 11 records, May 14 to 20.

TRYNGITES SUBRUFICOLLIS (Vieillot)

BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER

HABITS

My acquaintance with this species is limited to a few birds seen migrating in company with golden plover on the burnt-over prairies about Quill Lake, Saskatchewan. I have never seen it elsewhere. Like the upland plover, it is a sandpiper which has associated much with plover, frequents similar haunts, and has acquired some similar habits.

_Spring._--W. H. Hudson (1922) gives a striking account of the spring migration of this species in Argentina during its former abundance, from which I quote, as follows:

Now, one autumn, when most of the emigrants to the Arctic
breeding grounds had already gone, I witnessed a great
migration of this very species--this beautiful sandpiper
with the habits of a plover. The birds appeared in flocks
of about one to two or three hundred, flying low and very
swiftly due north, flock succeeding flock at intervals of
about 10 or 12 minutes; and this migration continued for
three days, or at all events three days from the first
day I saw them, at a spot about 2 miles from my home. I
was amazed at their numbers, and it was a puzzle to me
then, and has been one ever since, that a species thinly
distributed over the immense area of the Argentine pampas
and Patagonia could keep to that one line of travel over
that uniform green, sea-like country. For outside of that
line not one bird of the kind could anywhere be seen;
yet they kept so strictly to it that I sat each day for
hours on my horse watching them pass, each flock first
appearing as a faint buff-colored blur or cloud just above
the southern horizon, rapidly approaching then passing me,
about on a level with my horse’s head, to fade out of sight
in a couple of minutes in the north; soon to be succeeded
by another and yet other flocks in endless succession, each
appearing at the same point as the one before, following
the same line, as if a line invisible to all eyes except
their own had been traced across the green world for their
guidance. It gave one the idea that all the birds of this
species, thinly distributed over tens of thousands of
square miles of country, had formed the habit of assembling
previous to migration at one starting point, from which
they set out in successive flocks of a medium size in a
disciplined order on that marvelous journey to their Arctic
breeding grounds.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) noted migrating birds at Guamini on March 3 to 8. Prof. W. W. Cooke (1912) says that “migrants appear in the interior of Brazil and in Peru during March, but there are no spring migration data for the whole distance between Peru and Texas.” There is a heavy migration through Texas during April and then directly northward through the western part of the Mississippi Valley and the prairie Provinces of Canada to the Arctic tundra. The whole migration route in the spring seems to be very narrow. Prof. William Rowan (1927) writes:

This is a remarkable sandpiper from many viewpoints. Like
the American golden plover and the Eskimo curlew it used
to exist in millions and was slaughtered in uncountable
numbers. To-day there are many widely traveled collectors
who have never in their lives met with it. After extensive
inquiries I can discover only one spot on the continent
besides our point on which migrating buff-breasted
sandpipers may be relied upon to turn up in any numbers. We
get it in hundreds every spring, and, roughly speaking, it
frequents only one field. Odd birds or moving flocks may be
noted elsewhere from time to time, but on the rough pasture
that forms the main body of the point this species arrives
with unfailing regularity within a day or two of the 18th
of May. Like the golden plover, it seems to migrate by
night, for at daybreak there may be hundreds in place of
the few or none at all of the previous evening.

In his notes for 1924 he writes to me:

Two birds were seen May 19 and subsequently collected.
On the 21st, five were seen shortly after sunrise with
black-bellied plover, the first time that I have seen this
association, but a large arrival took place during the day
and there were scores in the evening. On the 24th they
had reached numbers such as I have never before seen and
numerous photographs were taken. On the 26th they must have
been on the ground in many hundreds. The whole of their
area, over a mile long, was crawling with them. There is no
doubt that this year they outnumbered every other wader we
had on the place. Even so, they never formed large flocks,
and I think we never saw more than 60 get up and fly
together. They dropped very suddenly in numbers after this,
as though they had all cleared off together, but a few were
seen each day till the 30th, when a flock of 30 constituted
our last record.

Pierce Brodkorb and Frank Grasett have recorded it in northeastern Illinois as early as April 27. A. G. Lawrence’s dates for Whitewater Lake, Manitoba, are from May 13 to 19. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) noted the first arrivals at St. Michael, Alaska, on May 31; and John Murdoch (1885) says that it arrived at Point Barrow June 6 to 8.

_Courtship._--Professor Rowan (1927) has given us the most elaborate account of the nuptial display of the buff-breasted sandpiper, as follows:

As we have noted it annually, there are several distinct
stages to the display, but the males do not appear to be
concerned in the least with the females at any time. Nor
have I ever seen a female take the slightest notice of any
of the displays. Nelson comments on the fact that Murdoch
frequently saw solitary males displaying, yet he was
observing them on the actual breeding grounds.

Probably the most frequent performance is the raising of
one wing only (either one), but this has various phases.
A, the wing is spread and held steadily for a few moments
with the primaries horizontal and is then closed again. B,
the wing is spread with the primaries nearly perpendicular
and waved round in an ellipse, the bird standing still. C,
the wing is spread while the bird runs round in circles.
D, the wing is held aloft while the owner runs after
another bird, always, so far as I have seen, another male,
which instantly raises one wing also and starts zigzagging
through the grass, the first bird giving chase. They may
thus cover many yards before one suddenly collapses his
wing and halts, the second immediately following suit. All
these single-wing performances seem to be carried out in
silence.

Both wings together are used for another set of actions.
E, the wings are raised similarly to a bird alighting on
or arising from the ground, the body horizontal. In this
attitude one bird sometimes chases another. F is a double
version of B, both wings being raised high and waved
round and round. G, both wings are spread, undersurfaces
forward, primaries horizontal, after the manner of the
American eagle, the body being almost perpendicular.
This may be accomplished by a rapid _tick tick tick_
many times repeated. Two birds may do it simultaneously
standing opposite to each other with the tips of the wings
practically touching. H is the most characteristic of all
and the most amusing to watch. Both wings are raised with
the undersurfaces facing to the front as in G, but with the
primaries perpendicular, tips practically touching each
other over the bird’s head. The body is held absolutely
vertical and the legs stretched to capacity (I am not
sure that the birds do not stand partially on tiptoe),
tail cocked out horizontally behind, while the individual
“_ticks_” at top speed for about a second. Each “_tick_” is
accompanied with a rapid jerk of the whole body. The bird
then relaxes momentarily, turns through an angle of 40 to
50 degrees, repeats the performance to a fresh audience
(if there is one, for I have seen isolated birds doing
this), relaxes to switch round again, and so on perhaps
half a dozen times. This may also be done simultaneously
by two birds, face to face, and standing so close that the
wing tips appear to touch over their heads. It may then be
repeated without any change of direction in the intervals.
But it always seems to be done in spasms. Display is
evidently infectious, particularly in fine weather, for
no sooner does one start than a dozen may be at it in a
moment. But it is curious to see a bird suddenly stop in
its hunt for food in order to go through one of these acts
and then proceed as though it never had anything else
in mind, particularly if it is by itself. It seems so
irrational. Occasional bickering occurs, but we have never
seen serious fights or even suggestion of anything serious.

Murdoch (1885) has also observed that--

Two will occasionally meet and spar like fighting cocks for
a few minutes and then rise together like towering birds,
with legs hanging loose, for about 30 feet, then drifting
off to leeward. A single bird will sometimes stretch
himself up to his full height, spread his wings forward,
and puff out his throat, making a sort of clucking noise,
while one or two others stand by and apparently admire him.

_Nesting._--Roderick MacFarlane found the buff-breasted sandpiper breeding commonly on the barren grounds east of Horton River and on the Arctic coast. I find the records of some 25 nests in his notes, but the data given are very meager. One nest was “near a small river, made of a few dead leaves”; another was “a depression in the ground, lined with a few withered grasses and leaves, on the slope of a gentle eminence”; a third, he said, was “precisely similar to that of the golden plover. The female made a short, low flight to a distance of about 12 yards, when the nest was approached within 9 or 10 feet.”

Murdoch (1885), at Point Barrow, “collected the eggs in considerable abundance”; he says that “they were never seen on the lower marshy portions of the tundra, but always confined themselves to the high and dry banks, or what we call the black tundra.” The eggs were deposited “in a shallow depression in the ground lined with a little moss,” where they harmonized very well with the black and white of the ground and moss.

_Eggs._--The buff-breasted sandpiper lays four eggs; one set of five is recorded. The shapes vary from ovate pyriform to pyriform, usually decidedly pointed. The prevailing ground colors are very light, from “cartridge buff” to dull white; in some darker colored eggs they are “olive-buff,” “chamois,” or “cream buff.” They are heavily and boldly marked, chiefly at the large end, where the markings are often confluent, with longitudinal and somewhat spiral blotches and with small spots and blotches scattered over the whole egg. An occasional egg is only sparingly marked with small spots. The markings are in dark browns, “bister,” “sepia,” “liver brown” and “livid brown,” sometimes “Saccardo’s umber” or “chestnut brown.” There are usually underlying blotches and spots in various shades of “brownish drab” or “drab-gray.” The measurements of 62 eggs in the United States National Museum average 37 by 26 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measures =40= by 27, 37.5 by =27.5=, =34.5= by 25.5, and 35.5 by =25= millimeters.

_Plumages._--I have never seen a downy young buff-breasted sandpiper and I doubt if any one else has. Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they migrate southward. They are like the adults, except as follows: The feathers of the mantle are sepia with an olive tinge, “dark grayish olive,” narrowly edged with cream white, giving a scaled appearance, whereas in the adult these feathers are brownish black or black, with very broad edgings of “cinnamon-buff” or “pinkish buff”; the feathers of the lower back, rump and upper tail coverts are from “hair brown” to “fuscous,” tipped with “cinnamon,” whereas in the adult these are brownish black, broadly edged with “cinnamon-buff”; the inner webs of the primaries, on the under side, are much more finely and closely sprinkled with black than in the adult, which has larger, more widely scattered and hence more conspicuous black spots. This last character probably persists through the first year. The postjuvenal molt and the first prenuptial molt are accomplished in South America. I have seen no specimens illustrating these.

Adults have a complete molt, apparently late in the fall or in the winter, the wings being molted last. Doctor Wetmore (1926) shot a male on September 21 that was still in worn breeding plumage. Birds molting primaries have been taken in February and March. Summer and winter plumages are very similar and the sexes are alike, except that the female is much smaller than the male.

_Food._--Professor Rowan (1927) says:

I am indebted to the Biological Survey at Washington for
kindly analyzing the contents of 17 stomachs, spring
taken. Roughly, 40 per cent consisted of Coleoptera,
adults and larvae, and 50 per cent of Diptera, chiefly
larvae and pupae. Seeds of _Polygonum_, _Potamogeton_, and
_Eleocharis_ were present to the extent of 1 per cent.
The rest consisted of spider and insect remains. I shall
be glad to send a detailed list to anyone who may be
interested.

_Behavior._--The same observer writes:

The buff-breasted sandpiper, like Bartram’s, is a plover in
its ways and habits rather than a sandpiper. Even in its
coloration it differs radically from the common sandpipers.
It is extraordinarily tame and confiding at times. When
the mood seizes it, one could without difficulty wipe out
every bird of a flock, provided one killed or wounded one
with the first shot. The remainder will return again and
again to a wounded bird. The noise of the gun seems to have
little more than momentary effect.

Owing to the muddy tone of their plumage, these birds are
exceptionally difficult to see on the type of ground that
they so habitually frequent. One can easily walk into a
flock without knowing it till the birds get up almost
under foot. This is made the easier by their habit of
“freezing.” They stand immobile on being approached, not
necessarily crouching, generally the very reverse, but
without movement they readily enough escape observation. If
they start moving as one gets nearer, it is always on the
run. They then carry their necks “craned,” scatter widely,
and zig-zag hither and thither rather after the manner of
partridges, of which they frequently remind one.

A flock will seldom rise in unison, but the nearer birds
will merely fly over and settle on the remote side of
the further ones. Even when the buff-breasts are amongst
sandpipers, such as Baird’s, Semi-palmateds, etc., five
times out of ten they will remain on the spot if the others
are scared up. A really large flock is rare. We estimated
the number of buff-breasts on a few acres of grass one
morning at about 2,000, and we spent several hours in
trying to photograph them. They were scattered in clumps
in all directions. Although we walked through them from
one end to the other more than once, thus tending to herd
them, the largest number we were able to put up together
was about 150. This constitutes the largest flock we have
ever seen. The typical loose association is evident in the
photograph. The birds merely flew round and settled again
in the vicinity.

On windy days these, like other waders, become exceedingly
restless and impossible to approach. They then perform the
most remarkable gyrations, always but a few feet above the
ground, and seldom rising and falling vertically, as do
so many others. They attain great speed and keep in close
formation, moving in absolute unison. As such a flock
turns in the sunlight there can be no possible error as
to identity, for the whole mass looks yellowish. A single
bird, in favorable light, may also give one the impression
of being yellow.

George H. Mackay (1892_a_) says of their habits in Massachusetts:

Of the few which I have seen I have remarked their extreme
gentleness and desire to be in company with other birds.
On one occasion I had one alight among my plover decoys
on the upland (which they seem very fond of frequenting),
and, not wishing to shoot it, I allowed it to remain for
quite a while so I could watch it. During this time it
moved about with unconcern, apparently not being aware that
its supposed companions were of wood. It seemed so gentle
that I determined to see how near it would permit me to
approach, and it was not over 5 or 6 feet from me when
it flew away, but only for a short time, however, for it
returned and alighted in the course of 10 or 15 minutes.
Having no desire to shoot it, I allowed it to remain until
it departed not to return. All the birds that I have seen
come immediately to the decoys on perceiving them, and
alight without hesitation or fear. Their flight is rapid,
with many turns and zigzag movements, and near the ground,
constantly turning up so as to show their entire under
parts.

Much of the behavior of the buff-breasted sandpiper, while on the ground, reminds one of the upland plover; it seems to prefer the grassy places rather than the open flats or shores, and often runs away to hide in the grass rather than fly; in running it lifts its feet rather high, as if accustomed to walking through grass; and it often stops and stands with its neck stretched up looking at the intruder, just as the upland plover does.

_Voice._--It is not a noisy bird, and seems to have a limited vocabulary. Professor Rowan (1926) says:

The spring note of the buff-breast, on the other hand, is
the most unusual and diagnostic wader note that I know. The
only thing it reminds me of is the song of the short-billed
marsh wren (_Cistothorus stellaris_), which produces a very
excellent imitation of two stones being chipped together.
The note of the buff-breast has the same quality about
it; but, instead of being loud and clear, it is quiet and
very short, and might be described as _tik_. This species,
however, is rather silent. I call this the spring note,
but perhaps it should more correctly be termed the adult
note, for we have not a single good record of an adult
in the autumn, wherefore I am only familiar with young
at this season. Like some other waders (e. g. willet),
birds of the year have a very different call or calls from
spring adults. In the case of the buff-breast the note of
the young is so like the pectoral’s--Harold considers it
shorter and less harsh--that, although distinguishable in
the field, it can hardly be described adequately by itself.

Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes: “As they rise they may give a low call that resembles _chwup_, somewhat robinlike in tone; a second call note is a low trilled _pr-r-r-reet_. The species is to be confused in the field with no other shore bird.”

_Field marks._--Professor Rowan (1927) says, on this point:

The absence of white margins and black center to the rump,
and hence the lack of contrast in this region, I have
found to be the most useful diagnostic character in the
field. The wing patch is also valuable. The extraordinarily
rounded head seen in silhouette against the sun or in bad
light at reasonable range has more than once proved useful.
The note is always diagnostic.

Doctor Wetmore (1926) writes:

When in the air or on the ground they are distinctly buff
in color, with a glimpse of the marbled underwing surface
as they rise or pass, and a flash of the gray tail with its
darker markings as they alight. On the ground in profile,
they show a long neck and long legs, while the short bill
is suggestive of that of a pigeon. The neck is drawn in
during flight.

E. A. Doolittle (1923) observed that--

The greenish legs, finely streaked crown, buffy breast
and sides of head, lack of streak through eyes, and long
pointed wings reaching beyond tail were all good field
marks while the bird was at rest; while lack of wing bars
and rounded tail were striking when the bird took flight.

_Fall._--The fall migration is much more widely extended than the spring; the main flight is directly southward through the center of North America, but it is so spread out that some birds appear on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Professor Cooke (1912) says: “The main body of migrants follows the Barren Grounds to the shores of Hudson Bay, thence almost due south across the Mississippi Valley to the coast of Texas, and through Central America to northwestern South America, and diagonally across the interior of South America to Argentina.” A limited flight swings eastward, south of Hudson Bay, or perhaps across it, to the eastern Provinces of Canada and New England. The species is so rare on the Atlantic coast south of Long Island as to indicate the probability of an oversea flight to the West Indies and South America. On the Pacific coast it seems to be very rare, though perhaps it has been overlooked, south of Washington, where it is probably of regular occurrence. D. E. Brown has sent me several records for Washington, the dates ranging from September 3 to 20. Major Allan Brooks (1924) says that he has noted it every year that he has been on the British Columbia coast.

In the interior the adults come along during the last three weeks in August, and the young birds all through September. In New England the dates are about the same. Here they were occasionally seen in small flocks, but now they are so rare that single birds are more often seen in company with upland or golden plover on the rolling uplands, or with other sandpipers on the meadows.

_Winter._--It evidently spends the winter south of Argentina, for Doctor Wetmore (1926) saw the first one on September 21 in Paraguay and the last one on November 13 near Buenos Aires; he did not see it again until the return flight in March. Mr. Hudson (1920) says:

It begins to arrive, usually in small bodies, early in the
month of October; and during the summer is seldom met with
in flocks of any size on the pampas, but is usually seen on
the dry, open ground associating in small numbers with the
golden plover, the whimbrel, and other northern species. I,
however, think it probable that it travels farther south
than its fellow-migrants from North America, and has its
principal feeding-grounds somewhere in the interior of
Patagonia; also that its northern journey takes place later
than that of other species.

Doctor Wetmore (1927) says:

The species frequented open flats or muddy shores near
lakes or channels, where it was subject to considerable
hunting, as several of those seen had been crippled by
shooting. From observations at Guamini, it appeared that
the species has some resting station in northern Patagonia,
perhaps near the mouths of the Rio Colorado and the Rio
Negro, or some of the large alkaline lakes of that region.
The small numbers remaining are preserved in some such
place, but apparently the species is near extinction.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North and South America.

_Breeding range._--The buff-breasted sandpiper is known to breed only on the Arctic coast of northwestern North America from Alaska (Cape Smythe, Point Barrow, and probably Cape Halkett); east to Yukon (Herschell Island); and Mackenzie (Fort Anderson and Bernard Harbor). It has been detected in summer and may breed at Nulato and Fort Egbert, Alaska, and at Winter Harbor, Franklin (Hennessey), while it also has been noted at this season in eastern Siberia (Cape Wankarem and the south coast of the Okhotsk Sea).

_Winter range._--The winter range appears to be restricted to southern South America. They have been noted at this season in Uruguay (Montevideo); and Argentina (Cordoba, Missiones, Rio Parana, Buenos Aires, and Lavalle).

_Spring migration._--The spring migration of the buff-breasted sandpiper is imperfectly known, and only a few records are available. It has been detected at Guamini, Argentina, on March 8, at Paramba, Ecuador, on April 22, and at Gatun, Panama, on March 29. On the Atlantic coast of the United States it is practically unknown at this season, old records at Frogmore, South Carolina (May 5), and Kendall (April 20), and Howard (May 8), New York, constituting the meager data at hand.

The main flight is seemingly up the Mississippi Valley, but even in that region, the record is incomplete. The data available are: Louisiana, Bird Islands, May 18; Kentucky, Bowling Green, April 27; Missouri, April 15, and May 20; Illinois, Chicago, April 27; Ohio, Columbus, May 6, 1923 (only record); Iowa, Norway, April; Minnesota, Madison, May 16, and Wilder, May 21; Texas, Corpus Christi, March 17, and Gainesville, April 23; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, May 12, and Fort Sisseton, May 22; North Dakota, Jamestown, May 6, and Harrisburg, May 7; Mackenzie, Fort Chipewyan, May 24, and Fort Simpson, May 29; and Alaska, Demarcation Point, May 26.

_Fall migration._--The fall record is more complete and dates of arrival and departure can be given with greater consistency. Early dates of arrival are: British Columbia, Chilliwack, July 23; Keewatin, Cape Eskimo, August 10; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, August 9; North Dakota, Grafton, August 14; South Dakota, Harding County, August 15; Nebraska, Neligh, August 12, and Waverly, August 14; Texas, Tivoli, August 3; Gainesville, August 4, and Brownsville, August 4; Minnesota, Minneapolis, August 1; Iowa, Charles City, August 1, and Sioux City, August 2; Indiana, Millers, August 30; Ohio, Lake County, August 19; Illinois, Chicago, August 16; Louisiana, Abbeville, August 4; Quebec, Godbout, August 7, and Henley Harbor, August 20; Maine, Scarboro, August 1, and Damariscane Island, August 26; New Hampshire, Rye Beach, August 25; Massachusetts, Ipswich, August 7, Cape Cod, August 16, and Nantucket, August 26; Rhode Island, Little Compton, July 22; New York, Canandaigua, July 24, Shelter Island, August 22, Syracuse, August 24, Rockaway, August 25, and Montauk Point, August 26; New Jersey, Toms River, September 8; Virginia, Wallops Island, September 5; North Carolina, Currituck, September 12; Florida, Lake Jackson, September 12; Costa Rica, San Jose, September 7; Colombia, Cienaga, August 12; Peru, Pebas, August 3, and Yquitos, September 2; and Paraguay, Puerto Pinasco, September 21.

Late dates of fall departure are: Washington, Westport, September 3, and Tacoma, September 20; California, Morro, September 14, 1923 (only record for the State); Montana, Yellowstone County, September 1; Colorado, Barr, August 25 and September 4 (only records); Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg, September 5, and Oak Lake, September 9; North Dakota, Jamestown, September 30; Nebraska, Lincoln, October 25; Kansas, Salina, October 10; Texas, Brownsville, October 7, and Corpus Christi, October 10; Wisconsin, Pittston, September 7, and Rock Prairie, September 10; Michigan, Kalamazoo County, September 17; Ohio, Columbus, September 9, Indiana, Lafayette, September 10; Illinois, Chicago, September 28, and Beach, October 2; Missouri, Independence, September 15; Kentucky, Bowling Green, September 7; Quebec, Magdalen Islands, September 13, and Port Burwell, September 28; Maine, Cape Elizabeth, September 13; Massachusetts, Nantucket, September 8, Plum Island, September 15, Monomoy Island, September 19, and Cape Cod, September 24; Rhode Island, Middletown, September 10, Newport, September 15, and Compton, September 23; Connecticut, New Haven, September 30; New York, Orient Point, September 8, Rockaway, September 13, and Mastic, October 6; Lesser Antilles, Barbados, October 6; Costa Rica, San Jose, October 8; and Panama, Gatun, October 18.

_Casual records._--The buff-breasted sandpiper has been recorded as taken once at Cardenas, Cuba (Gundlach). There are fifteen or sixteen records for the British Isles, all being for the period from July to September, except one, taken in May, 1829, at Formby, Lancashire. It also has been recorded from Abbeville, Picardy, France (Dalgleish); and from the Province of Owari, Japan (Stejneger). A record of this species from Heligoland, May 9, 1847, is considered by Seebohn as possibly _T. subminuta_.

_Egg Dates_.--Arctic coasts of Canada and Alaska: 37 records, June 1 to July 18; 19 records, June 28 to July 3.

ACTITIS MACULARIA (Linnaeus)

SPOTTED SANDPIPER

HABITS

_Contributed by Winsor Marrett Tyler_

The spotted sandpiper is one of the successful species of birds.

The old writers, speaking of a time when the surface of the country was very different from at present, are in accord as to the abundance of this bird in North America. Wilson (1832) refers to it as “very common”; Nuttall (1834) says it is “one of the most familiar and common of all the New England marsh birds”; and Audubon (1840) reports it “quite abundant along the margins of the Mississippi, the Ohio, and their tributaries,” and “on the island of Jestico, in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, about 20 pairs had nests and eggs, * * * and the air was filled with the pleasant sound of their voices.”

At the present time we find the bird apparently little diminished in numbers. In the numerous local lists published from every part of the country the spotted sandpiper almost always has a place. Notations such as “seen daily throughout the summer” or “common along the streams” indicate the wide distribution and abundance of the species. Indeed it is the best known of our sandpipers, not only because of its extensive breeding range, extending from coast to coast and northward into Alaska and Labrador, but by reason of its individual and peculiar habit of flight and its characteristic notes.

Almost every inhabitant of the United States, sometime during the year, may meet this graceful little wader stepping delicately along the margin of some sandy pond, the shore of the sea, or skimming from perch to perch on the rocks bordering a mountain stream.

Poised well above the ground on its slim greenish-yellow legs it walks slowly and carefully along the shore, picking up a bit of food now on this side, now on that. It goes forward with a switching motion, head reached well forward and a little lowered. Except when creeping up within reach of an insect or when its attention is riveted on the snapping up of a bit of food the tail is almost continuously in motion up and down. At the least alarm the motion is increased to a wider arc until the posterior half of the bird’s body is rapidly teetering. A little increase in alarm and the bird is off on vibrating wings held stiffly and cupped with the tips depressed, sailing along the shore away from danger. As the bird takes wing it gives, almost without exception, its whistled call, _peet-weet-weet_, a call so associated with the bird that Nuttall long ago give it the name _peet-weet_.

_Spring._--The spotted sandpiper moves northward earlier than the other sandpipers. It enters the transitional zone in late April and early May, its time of arrival coinciding very closely with the chewink, another ground feeder. It returns to its breeding ground inconspicuously, never passing by in the large flocks characteristic of many sandpipers, but appears on the first day of its arrival running about on the shore of its chosen bit of water, apparently settled for the season. In this habit of not gathering into flocks it resembles its relative the solitary sandpiper.

Wright and Harper (1913) speak of a few birds, left behind after most of the species had spread over the country to the north, tarrying in the Okefinokee Swamp till late in the spring:

The spotted sandpiper was a distinct surprise as a summer
resident of the swamp. Not only is this several hundred
miles south of its known breeding range, but one would not
expect it to find a suitable haunt in the Okefinokee. The
lakes and rivers are practically shoreless; they are simply
open spaces in the otherwise continuous cypress swamps.
However, the logs and driftwood near the edges of Billys
Lake serve as teetering stands; half a dozen were seen here
on May 11, one on June 5, and still another a few days
later. The species probably does not breed in this latitude.

_Courtship._--The courtship of the spotted sandpiper has not been observed very minutely. Some of the few published reports on the subject show a discrepancy in details, and one, giving an instance of display by a bird proved by dissection to be a female, casts doubts on all records of courtship based on sight identification and raises the question as to the respective rôles played by the sexes in the home-life of the species.

Bradford Torrey (1885), assuming the bird to be a male, speaks of

A spotted sandpiper, whose capers I amused myself with
watching, one day last June, on the shore of Saco Lake.
As I caught sight of him, he was straightening himself
up, with a pretty, self-conscious air, at the same time
spreading his white-edged tail, and calling, _tweet,
tweet, tweet_. Afterwards he got upon a log, where, with
head erect and wings thrown forward and downward, he ran
for a yard or two, calling as before. This trick seemed
especially to please him, and was several times repeated.
He ran rapidly, and with a comical prancing movement; but
nothing he did was half as laughable as the behavior of his
mate, who all this while dressed her feathers without once
deigning to look at her spouse’s performance.

Whittle (1922) describes a similar action of a bird observed in Montana on May 29:

One of the birds, judged to be a male, was seen standing
on a long, inclined timber, while another, presumed to be
a female, fed close by along the shore. The male first
walked the length of the timber and then flew to another
one, where he depressed and spread his tail, and, without
teetering, stalked slowly along its entire length, with
head bent low.

Lewis O. Shelley (1925) reports from New Hampshire a courtship display which differs from the two previous ones. Here again the respective sexes are assumed:

A female sandpiper came running along the brook,
occasionally stopping to pick up an insect and teeter,
then run on again. Behind her were two males, the first
strutting along, looking much like a goose, craning his
neck up, swelling out his throat, drooping his wings, and
spreading his tail; the second kept well to the rear, and
did no strutting.

Every time the female stopped for a second, or slowed, the
male would dart past her and stop, throw his head higher,
and make a _fump, fump, fump_, in his throat. If that
failed to attract her attention, he would again pass her
and alternately spread wings and tail. This performance
went on all the afternoon, until almost dusk.

This observation describes a courtship in which the behavior of the aggressive bird corresponds closely, especially in the movements of the head, with the action of the bird noted in the next quotation--a bird proved by dissection to be a female.

A. J. Van Rossem (1925) gives the following extract from Dr. Loye Miller’s notebook:

Altitude, 9,000 feet; Mammoth Lakes, Inyo County, Calif.;
July 4, 1923: [spotted] sandpipers are just beginning to
pair, and several seen in courting flights. One especially
active bird was shot and proved to be a female. She came to
an imitation of the call--soared over a fallen log before
alighting on it. She then ruffed out the feathers and
strutted like a turkey cock, with head thrown back. The ova
were the size of buckshot.

_Nesting._--The breeding range of the spotted sandpiper, extending over a vast area of diversified land, ranging in altitude from sea-level to 14,000 feet, and including both arid and well-watered country, makes necessary in the bird a wide degree of adaptability in the choice of its nesting site. Few birds show a greater variation in this respect and among the places which the bird selects to lay its eggs there is but one point in common--the proximity of water.

The following quotations bring out the extreme variety of nesting sites: Mearns (1890) writing of the bird in Arizona says: “These birds were apparently breeding at a small lake, in a crater-like depression at the summit of a volcanic peak arising near the western base of the San Francisco cone, the lake being at an altitude of from 10,000 to 10,500 feet.” Shick (1890) reports the bird in New Jersey as breeding “in the higher parts of the island, generally on a sandy knoll in the high, rank sedge grass,” and Audubon (1840), speaks of the nests “in Labrador, where, in every instance, they were concealed under ledges of rocks extending for several feet over them, so I probably should not have observed them, had not the birds flown off as I was passing.” He also speaks, quoting Nuttall, of “their eggs laid in a strawberry bed.” Dwight (1893) records a nest “found in an odd situation at Tignish [Prince Edward Island]. It was under a decayed log in a boggy slope, and was carefully lined with bits of rotten wood.”

In the use of material to construct or line its nest the bird shows nearly as much variation as in the choice of the nesting site and it may be stated roughly that the more northerly the latitude of the breeding ground, the bulkier is the nest. Audubon (1840) says, speaking of the nests found in Labrador:

They were more bulky and more neatly constructed than any
that I have examined southward of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
* * * These nests [those in Labrador] were made of dry
moss, raised to the height of from 6 to 9 inches, and well
finished within with slender grasses and feathers of the
eider duck.

Brewster (1925) speaks of the bird as:

Especially given to breeding on small islands in Lake
Umbagog [Maine], scarce one of which is left untenanted
by them at the right season or resorted to by more than
a single pair. Their eggs, almost invariably four in
number, are usually laid during the last week of May, in
saucer-shaped hollows scraped in surface soil, and thinly
lined with dry grass. * * * If the island be treeless
and ledgy, the nest is likely to be on or near the most
elevated or central part, and more or less well concealed
by grass or other lowly vegetation. But if all the ground,
not subject to inundation, be densely wooded, the spot
where the bird has hidden her treasures is seldom far back
from the shore, and perhaps scarce above highwater mark,
usually where driftwood has accumulated, or beneath the
leafy branch of some outstanding alder or Cassandra bush.
In such places as these, it is by no means easy to find
the nest, even when the total area to be searched is only
a few rods square. The task may well seem hopeless if
undertaken in the open farming country about the southern
end of the Lake, for, although spotted sandpipers breed
here not uncommonly, they are so widely and sparsely
distributed over hilly pastures and fields of considerable
extent, that it is only by the merest chance that anybody
ever stumbles on a nest. The only one that I have happened
upon was well hidden in a tangle of withered grass and
ferns, covering a steeply sloping bank by the roadside.

In incubation as well as in courtship the male has been shown to assume duties which are usually ascribed to the female. The following quotation illustrates this fact. Van Rossem (1925) says:

On July 11, in a boggy meadow near the water’s edge, we
found a nest of four eggs which seemed nearly fresh. We
often had occasion to pass this nest, but there was never
more than one bird present. On July 25 the eggs had hatched
and after a short search we found the downy young in the
short grass. They were collected with the parent, which
proved to be the male. The sides of his breast and belly
were worn quite bare of feathers, showing that he had done
most of if not all of the incubating. The succeeding days,
we frequently passed the old nesting place, but never saw
any other sandpiper in the vicinity. On July 26 Alden
Miller and the writer were on the headwaters of the San
Joaquin River, in Madera County [California], and while
there found a nest on a grass-grown gravel bar in the
river. It contained young which were just emerging from
the shells. These were collected with the parent which, as
in the first case, was a male. We were at this nest and in
the immediate vicinity nearly an hour, but no other adult
appeared.

Although as a rule the spotted sandpiper does not build near the nest of other birds of the same species, in exceptional cases many pairs nest in close proximity to each other.

L. McI. Terrill (1911), illustrating this gregarious habit, says:

A few years ago a large colony were nesting on Isle Ronde
(a small island of a few acres, opposite the city of
Montreal). Visiting this island on May 26, 1896, I located
without difficulty 13 occupied nests. Again, on May 31,
1898, I examined upward of 25. On each occasion only a
small portion of the island was examined, and I estimated
that there were well over 100 pairs breeding.

Mousley (1916) points out that--

It may not be generally known that these birds if flushed
whilst constructing their nest invariably desert it, at
least this has been my experience on four occasions, when I
have flushed both birds whilst in the act of scooping out
or lining the hole. In one instance, however, they made a
fresh nest within 45 feet of the old one.

_Eggs._--[AUTHOR’S NOTE: The spotted sandpiper lays almost invariably 4 eggs, very rarely 5, and rarely only 3. These are ovate in shape, less pyriform than the eggs of most waders, and they have only a very slight gloss. The prevailing ground color is “cartridge buff,” with some variations to “pinkish buff,” or “pale olive buff.” They are irregularly spotted or blotched, usually both; sometimes they are finely and evenly sprinkled with small spots; and very rarely the markings are concentrated at the larger end. The markings are mostly in very dark browns, “seal brown,” “clove brown,” and “blackish brown,” and rarely as light as “Mars brown” or “russet.” The underlying markings are generally lacking or inconspicuous, but some handsome eggs are blotched with “lavender gray,” “pallid purple drab,” or “brownish drab.” The measurements of 88 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 32 by 23 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =34= by =25=, =29= by 23, and 33 by =20= millimeters.]

_Young._--The young spotted sandpiper furnishes an instance of an ancestral habit springing into action almost at the moment of hatching. When no larger than the egg from which they have just stepped they run over the sand teetering their tail in the manner of their parents. My notes mention a little bird, no more than a tiny ball of fluff, which stood on my hand waving up and down the feathery plumes of its infinitesimal tail.

Wilson (1832) says: “The young, as soon as they are freed from the shell, run about constantly wagging the tail,” and Nuttall (1834) speaks of “the habit of balancing or wagging the tail, in which even the young join as soon as they are fledged.”

Another example of the precociousness of the fledgling sandpiper is its ability to swim while still in the down. G. M. Sutton (1925) speaks of the habit thus:

Upon several occasions within the writer’s experience downy
young of the spotted sandpiper, when closely pursued, have
taken to the water, where they swam lightly although not
very rapidly in making an escape.

Dr. C. W. Townsend (1920) cites a case in which a young bird, evidently in juvenal plumage, swam under water:

In Labrador I caught a nearly full-grown young still unable
to fly and put it in a small river. It at once dove and
swam under water for a distance of 3 or 4 feet, using for
propulsion its wings and probably its feet, although I
could not be sure of the latter point. It then rose to the
surface and swam to the opposite side like a little duck
and walked out on the sand, where the mother was anxiously
calling.

Aretas A. Saunders also mentions in his notes a case of diving:

Young birds when away from the parent and threatened with
danger often take to water and dive and swim under water,
using the wings to help swim. At such times the down is
covered with air bubbles, which helps keep them dry and
gives them a silvery appearance. Once I pursued a young
bird I wished to band, and it did this so many times that
it became wet in spite of the air bubbles, and in fact was
quite chilled through for a time.

More commonly the method of escaping danger adopted by the young sandpipers is to lie motionless on the beach, where a pebbly shore affords an ideal background for concealment. William Palmer (1909) brings out the success of this ruse thus:

While walking along a beach one summer a spotted sandpiper
(_Actitis macularia_) and a single young were noticed some
distance ahead. As I approached the place the old bird,
with the startled manner characteristic of its kind at such
a time, kept well ahead, but I could not find the other.
Going back some distance, I waited and soon saw it again
with its parent. I repeated my quest, and again failed to
find the youngster. Going back once more and again seeing
it rejoin the old bird, I slowly moved forward, keeping my
eyes this time very intently on it, and soon picked it up
from the sand, an unwilling captive.

A. A. Saunders gives in his notes a picture of the parental care of the young. The young birds are--