184 L I T T L E SANDPIPER.
turn to. the same place?' in the next instant, to pursue their lowly occupation
of scraping in the mud, whonce,* probably, originated the contemptible
appellation ..1' IIvmHity, by w«liich they and.some other small
birds of similar habits have: been distinguished. • For the discovery
of their food, their flexible and sensitive awl-like bills are thrust into
t h e mire, marshy soil, or wet sand, in the manner of the Snipe and
Woodcock, and in this way lliey discover and route from theiï hiding
retreat, the larvae and soft worms which form a principal part of their
fare. At other times, thoy also give chase to. insects, and pursue
their calling with amusing alacrity. When at length startled,' or
about to join the company >thoy have .left, a sharp, sliort, and monotonous
ivliistlov like the word peel, or peep, is uttered, and thuy instantly
take to wing; and -course along.'witb thé company, they1 had
left. On seeing the larger marsh-birds feeding,: as the Yellow-shanks
and others, a whirling flp8k of thie Peèps will descend aeffing? them,
being gcmolfalh1 allowed to Iced in quiet ; and at the approach of the
sportsman, . thcséS little tirmu'ous rovers are ready to* give the alarm.
At first, a Slender peep is heard, which is then followed by two or three
others, and presently peep, pip, piy / i f , murmurs in a lisping whistle
through'thë quailing ranks; : as they rise 'on the wing, and inevitably
entice with them their larger but less watchful associates. Towards
evening in fine wnat.hoi%vtho marshes almost re-echo with the shrill but
rather! murmuring or lisping, subdued, and querulous call i>( peet, and
then a repetition of pé-dee, pé-die, d^dle, which seems .to be the collecting
cry of the old birds calling togotherrtheir brood, for, when assembled,
the note changes into à Confused murmur n{/>eet,pee(, attended
by a short and suppressed'whistle."
During my never-to-be forgotten residence at Henderson, <;on the
banks of the fair Ohio,-1 was- in the habit of frequently seeing large
tlocks. of these birds.cm the sandy shores of that river, during the
autumnal months, and finding after a while tlrnt they could easily be
driven into, a partridge net, I laid one accordingly on several occasions,
when, by wing gentle means,B induced many dozens of these
tiny,. lilt, and delicious birds to enter and become prisoners. 1 -dipped
/¡tile ivings "f many of them, and turned them loose in my garden, for
the purpose-,of studying their habits in this sort of half-confined state ;
but they were all soon destroyed by these most destructive pests, the
Norway rats, which at that time infested all my premises.
L I T T L E SANDPIPER. 185
I found these birds: quite abundant on the whole coast of Florida,
during winter,, and I have no .doubt • that many remain, with
us ail .thtí> year ; indeed, it would not at .all surprise me 1» hear
that some of -them actually breed in parts of the alpine districts
of our Middle Stàtés. I have also found them -equally numerous
along the whole coast of the Bay of Mexico, during my recent, visit to
Tesas, when, late in Àpi®:,, seme of them wore still ^travelling from
farther south-west, and proceeding eastward. In ..South Carolina, they
are frequent in Spring and autumn, along the borders of the rice fields,
and
. Since writing the above, my friend Dr Towssend has furnished
me with a list of Some, of the birds seen by him on: ««?' Rocky Mountains
and the Columbia River, in. which this species is mentioned as
. being found along the shores of that, celebrated stream of the far west.
. Trikoa vtrsiitA, Wife. Amor. Ornith. yj£. v. p. 32, pi. 37, fig. i. Jiomf.,
Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p 319.
WN.son':s Sasdpipee, Imma "Whsohii, Sit'M'l, Manual, vol.». p. 120;
Adult Male in Summer Mumage. Plate CfiGXX. Fig. 1.
Bill shorter than the head, slender, straight, compressed, tapering
from the base to n e a r .the point, which is slightly swelled; but with
t h è ' t i p rather acute. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight,
th,, ridge narrow and convex»; little broader and flattened towards
the end, the sides sloping, with the nasal groove extending to near the
tip. tower mandible -with the angle very long and narrow, the dorsal
line straight, towards the end- slightly declinate, ífí¡Wsides: sloping a
little outwards, with a groove extending to near the tip.
j lead of moderate si/.e, oblong, compressed, peek rather short.
Body compact, ovate. • Feet of moderate length and Slender ; tibia
bare a fourth of its length ; tarsus of modérate length, compressed,
scutellate before and behind, so as to leave scarcely any intermediate
space; hind toe extremely small ; anterior toes rather long, slender,
free, slightly margined, and with numerous scutella above. Claws
small, slightly arched, much compressed, that of the third toe larger,
with the inner edge a little dilated.
Plumage soft, blended on the neck and lower parts, somewhat compact
on the upper. Wings long, pointed ; primaries tapering, obtuse,