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The source scans used are from the Dover edition, published in 1962,
an unabridged republication of the work first published by the United
States Government Printing Office. Part I was originally published
in 1927 as Smithsonian Institution United States National Museum
Bulletin 142; Part II was originally published in 1929 as Smithsonian
Institution United States National Museum Bulletin 146. In Part II,
the Smithsonian publication used Plate 1 as a frontispiece. The Dover
edition included Plate 1 with the rest of the plates at the end of
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_Life Histories of North American Shore Birds_
_by Arthur Cleveland Bent_
_in two parts - Part II_
_Dover Publications, Inc., New York_
ADVERTISEMENT
The scientific publications of the National Museum include two series,
known, respectively, as _Proceedings_ and _Bulletin_.
The _Proceedings_, begun in 1878, is intended primarily as a medium
for the publication of original papers, based on the collections of
the National Museum, that set forth newly acquired facts in biology,
anthropology, and geology, with descriptions of new forms and revisions
of limited groups. Copies of each paper, in pamphlet form, are
distributed as published to libraries and scientific organizations and
to specialists and others interested in the different subjects. The
dates at which these separate papers are published are recorded in the
table of contents of each of the volumes.
The _Bulletin_, the first of which was issued in 1875, consists of
a series of separate publications comprising monographs of large
zoological groups and other general systematic treatises (occasionally
in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, catalogues
of type-specimens, special collections, and other material of similar
nature. The majority of the volumes are octavo in size, but a quarto
size has been adopted in a few instances in which large plates were
regarded as indispensable. In the _Bulletin_ series appear volumes
under the heading _Contributions from the United States National
Herbarium_, in octavo form, published by the National Museum since
1902, which contain papers relating to the botanical collections of the
Museum.
The present work forms No. 146 of the _Bulletin_ series.
ALEXANDER WETMORE,
_Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution_.
WASHINGTON, D. C., _December 11, 1928_.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Order Limicolae 1
Family Scolopacidae 1
Tringa solitaria solitaria 1
Solitary sandpiper 1
Habits 1
Distribution 9
Tringa solitaria cinnamomea 13
Western solitary sandpiper 13
Habits 13
Distribution 15
Tringa ocrophus 16
Green sandpiper 16
Habits 16
Distribution 21
Rhyacophilus glareola 22
Wood sandpiper 22
Habits 22
Distribution 26
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus semipalmatus 27
Eastern willet 27
Habits 27
Distribution 35
Catoptrophorus semipalmatus inornatus 36
Western willet 36
Habits 36
Distribution 39
Heteroscelus incanus 41
Wandering tattler 41
Habits 41
Distribution 46
Heteroscelus brevipes 48
Polynesian tattler 48
Habits 48
Distribution 49
Philomachus pugnax 49
Ruff 49
Habits 49
Distribution 54
Bartramia longicauda 55
Upland plover 55
Habits 55
Distribution 65
Tryngites subruficollis 69
Buff-breasted sandpiper 69
Habits 69
Distribution 76
Actitis macularia 78
Spotted sandpiper 78
Habits 78
Distribution 93
Numenius americanus 97
Long-billed curlew 97
Habits 97
Distribution 106
Numenius arquata arquata 109
European curlew 109
Habits 109
Distribution 112
Numenius hudsonicus 113
Hudsonian curlew 113
Habits 113
Distribution 122
Numenius borealis 125
Eskimo curlew 125
Habits 125
Distribution 134
Numenius phaeopus phaeopus 136
Whimbrel 136
Habits 136
Distribution 139
Numenius tahitiensis 140
Bristle-thighed curlew 140
Habits 140
Distribution 143
Family Charadriidae 144
Vanellus-vanellus 144
Lapwing 144
Habits 144
Distribution 148
Eudromias morinellus 150
Dotterel 150
Habits 150
Distribution 153
Squatarola squatarola 154
Black-bellied plover 154
Habits 154
Distribution 166
Pluvialis apricaria altifrons 171
European golden plover 171
Habits 171
Distribution 174
Pluvialis dominica dominica 175
American golden plover 175
Habits 175
Distribution 189
Pluvialis dominica fulva 193
Pacific golden plover 193
Habits 193
Distribution 201
Oxyechus vociferus 202
Killdeer 202
Habits 202
Distribution 213
Charadrius semipalmatus 217
Semipalmated plover 217
Habits 217
Distribution 225
Charadrius hiaticula 229
Ringed plover 229
Habits 229
Distribution 232
Charadrius dubius curonicus 233
Little ringed plover 233
Habits 233
Distribution 236
Charadrius melodus 236
Piping plover 236
Habits 236
Distribution 244
Charadrius nivosus nivosus 246
Snowy plover 246
Habits 246
Distribution 251
Charadrius nivosus tenuirostris 252
Cuban snowy plover 252
Habits 252
Charadrius mongolus mongolus 253
Mongolian plover 253
Habits 253
Distribution 256
Pagolla wilsonia wilsonia 257
Wilson plover 257
Habits 257
Distribution 262
Podasocys montanus 263
Mountain plover 263
Habits 263
Distribution 267
Family Aphrizidae 269
Aphriza virgata 269
Surf bird 269
Habits 269
Distribution 277
Arenaria interpres 278
Turnstone 278
Habits 278
Distribution 293
Arenaria interpres interpres 293
Arenaria interpres morinella 294
Arenaria melanocephala 298
Black turnstone 298
Habits 298
Distribution 304
Family Haematopodidae 305
Haematopus ostralegus 305
European oyster catcher 305
Habits 305
Distribution 308
Haematopus palliatus palliatus 309
American oyster catcher 309
Habits 309
Distribution 315
Haematopus palliatus frazari 316
Frazer oyster catcher 316
Habits 316
Distribution 319
Haematopus bachmani 320
Black oyster catcher 320
Habits 320
Distribution 323
Family Jacanidae 324
Jacana spinosa gymnostoma 324
Mexican jacana 324
Habits 324
Distribution 327
References to publications 328
Explanation of plates 341
Index 407
INTRODUCTION
This is the eighth in a series of bulletins of the United States
National Museum on the life histories of North American birds. Previous
numbers have been issued as follows:
107. Life Histories of North American Diving Birds, August 1, 1919.
113. Life Histories of North American Gulls and Terns, August 27, 1921.
121. Life Histories of North American Petrels, Pelicans and their
Allies, October 19, 1922.
126. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, May 25, 1923.
130. Life Histories of North American Wild Fowl, June 27, 1925.
135. Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds, March 11, 1927.
142. Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, December 31, 1927.
The same general plan has been followed, as explained in previous
bulletins, and the same sources of information have been utilized. The
classification and nomenclature adopted by the American Ornithologists’
Union, in its latest check list and its supplements, have been
followed, mainly, with such few changes as, in the author’s opinion,
will be, or should be, made to bring the work up to date and in line
with recent advances in the science.
The main ranges are as accurately outlined as limited space will
permit; the normal migrations are given in sufficient detail to
indicate the usual movements of the species; no attempt has been made
to give all the records, for economy in space, and no pretence at
complete perfection is claimed. Many published records, often repeated,
have been investigated and discarded; many apparently doubtful records
have been verified; some published records, impossible to either verify
or disprove, have been accepted if the evidence seemed to warrant it.
The egg dates are the condensed results of a mass of records taken from
the data in a large number of the best egg collections in the country,
as well as from contributed field notes and from a few published
sources. They indicate the dates on which eggs have been actually found
in various parts of the country, showing the earliest and latest dates
and the limits between which half the dates fall, the height of the
season.
The plumages are described in only enough detail to enable the reader
to trace the sequence of molts and plumages from birth to maturity and
to recognize the birds in the different stages and at the different
seasons. No attempt has been made to fully describe adult plumages;
this has been already well done in the many manuals. The names of
colors, when in quotation marks, are taken from Ridgway’s Color
Standards and Nomenclature (1912) and the terms used to describe
the shapes of eggs are taken from his Nomenclature of Colors (1886
edition). The heavy-faced type in the measurements of eggs indicate the
four extremes of measurements.
Many of those who contributed material for former volumes have
rendered a similar service in this case. In addition to those whose
contributions have been acknowledged previously, our thanks are due
to the following new contributors: Photographs, notes, or data have
been contributed by E. G. Alexander, C. M. Beal, W. W. Bennett, A.
D. Boyle, W. J. Brown, M. H. Burroughs, J. J. Carroll, N. W. Cayley,
Ralph Chislett, W. M. Congreve, S. J. Darcus, H. G. Deignare, Jonathan
Dwight, F. F. Gander, T. S. Gillin, W. E. Glegg, S. P. Gordon, Frank
Grasett, R. W. Harding, L. L. Haskin, E. A. Hyer, T. A. James, F.
Kermode, H. M. Laing, Carl Lien, G. H. Lings, Julian Lyder, S. H.
Lyman, M. J. Magee, Miss M. E. McLellan, F. C. Pellett, R. T. Peterson,
H. H. Pittman, C. A. Proctor, J. C. Salyer, A. W. Schorger, Althea R.
Sherman, L. W. Smith, E. L. Sumner, jr., Malcolm Taylor, jr., R. M.
Thorburn, C. H. Townsend, Josselyn Van Tyne, Stanton Warburton, jr.,
Alexander Wetmore, F. N. Wilson, L. R. Wolfe.
Receipt of material from over 275 contributors has been acknowledged in
previous volumes.
Through the courtesy of the Biological Survey, the services of
Frederick C. Lincoln were again secured to compile the distribution
paragraphs. With the matchless reference files of the Biological
Survey at his disposal and with some advice and help from Dr. Harry C.
Oberholser, his many hours of careful and thorough work have produced
results far more satisfactory than could have been attained by the
author, who claims no credit and assumes no responsibility for this
part of the work.
Dr. Charles W. Townsend has contributed the life histories of two
species; the Rev. Francis C. R. Jourdain has furnished valuable notes
for two, has written nine new life histories and two of his have been
transferred from the previous volume; and Dr. Winsor M. Tyler has
contributed two life histories. The author is much indebted to Dr.
Charles W. Richmond for many hours of careful and sympathetic work
in reading the proof and correcting errors in this and all previous
volumes; his expert knowledge has been of great value.
As most of the shore birds are known to us mainly, or entirely, as
migrants, it has seemed desirable to describe their migrations quite
fully. As it is a well-known fact that many, if not all, immature and
nonbreeding shore birds remain far south of their breeding ranges all
summer, it has not seemed necessary to mention this in each case. Nor
did it seem necessary to say that only one brood is raised in a season,
as this is a nearly universal rule with all water birds.
The manuscript for this volume was completed in April, 1928.
Contributions received since then will be acknowledged later. Only
information of great importance could be added. When this volume
appears, contributions of photographs or notes relating to the Raptores
should be sent to
THE AUTHOR.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN SHORE
BIRDS
ORDER LIMICOLAE (PART 2)
By ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
_Of Taunton, Massachusetts_
Family SCOLOPACIDAE, Snipes and Sandpipers
TRINGA SOLITARIA SOLITARIA Wilson
SOLITARY SANDPIPER
HABITS
This dainty “woodland tattler” is associated in my mind with some
secluded, shady woodland pool in early autumn, where the summer drought
has exposed broad muddy shores and where the brightly tinted leaves of
the swamp maple float lightly on the still water. Here the solitary
wader may be seen, gracefully poised on some fallen log, nodding
serenely, or walking gracefully over the mud or in the shallow water.
Seldom disturbed by man, it hardly seems to heed his presence; it
may raise its wings, displaying their pretty linings, or it may flit
lightly away to the other side of the pool, with a few sharp notes of
protest and a flash of white in its tail. I have often seen it in other
places where one would not expect to find shore birds, such as the
muddy banks of a sluggish stream, somewhat polluted with sewage, which
flows back of my garden in the center of the city, or some barnyard mud
puddle, reeking with the filth of cattle; perhaps it is attracted to
such unsavory places by the swarms of flies that it finds there.
_Spring._--The solitary sandpiper arrives in the United States during
the latter part of March, but it makes slow progress northward, for it
does not reach New England until May. We generally see it singly, in
pairs, or in small numbers, but according to William Brewster (1925) it
sometimes occurs in favorable localities, near Umbagog Lake, Maine, in
large numbers; he writes:
According to an entry in my journal I saw them there
literally in “swarms” on May 20, 1880, when, as we advanced
by way of the river in a boat, they were ceaselessly
rising and flitting on ahead, uttering their _peet-weet_
calls, and also making a faint yet noticeable rustling
sound with their wings. Thus driven they sometimes
alighted, one after another, on some muddy point, until as
many as seven assembled within the space of a few square
feet. Nevertheless, they were for the most part paired, and
the mated birds almost invariably kept together, and apart
from all the rest when on wing.
The migration in the interior seems to be at least two or three weeks
earlier. E. W. Hadeler tells me that in Lake County, Ohio, one is
almost sure to find it, on the river where the sewer empties into it,
between April 22 and May 18. Many must pass through the inland States
in April, for Edward S. Thomas has recorded it in Ohio as early as
March 30 and calls the average date of arrival April 15. A. G. Lawrence
has recorded it in southern Manitoba as early as April 29 and it
reaches its northernmost breeding grounds in Mackenzie and Alaska soon
after the middle of May.
_Courtship._--Dr. John B. May has sent me the following notes on a
courtship display of this species which he saw in New Hampshire:
Paddling down river one day, probably between the 8th and
15th of June, I saw several pairs of solitary and spotted
sandpipers where the muddy banks were exposed, near a
swamp where bitterns breed. Both species were apparently
courting, making considerable noise and showing their white
feathers in display. Every little while one of the solitary
sandpipers would fly up slowly into the air, only rising
a few feet, and rising slowly with rapidly beating or
quivering wings, giving a twittering whistle and spreading
the tail so that the outer white feathers were very
conspicuous. Then it would drop back to the mud again near
where it rose. The time taken in rising a few feet would
have carried it some distance with its ordinary flight.
_Nesting._--The nesting habits of this sandpiper long remained a
mystery or were misunderstood. In looking over the literature on the
subject I came across no less than seven published records of nests
found on the ground and said to be positively identified as this
species. These were all published prior to the discovery of the now
well-known habit of nesting in the deserted nests of passerine birds.
Not a single one of these records seems to be substantiated by an
available specimen of the parent bird. The solitary sandpiper may
occasionally nest on the ground, but it is yet to be proven.
To Evan Thomson belongs the credit for making the interesting discovery
of the tree-nesting habit. This historic incident is described by J.
Fletcher Street (1923) as follows:
Mr. Thomson many years ago took up a quarter section of
land under the Canadian homestead act, built himself a log
cabin at the edge of a muskeg, and commenced the arduous
task of clearing the land. Living alone in this wilderness
without neighbors and possessing a keen love for nature
and a particular interest in the abundant wild life about
him, he came to devote his spare moments to the study of
birds, counting as his immediate associates such hermit
species as the great-horned owl, long-eared owl, saw-whet
owl, goshawk, and a large host of water fowl and waders.
Seated one day before his cabin he noticed a bird fly to
a low tamarack and enter a nest. It was ostensibly one of
the waders, and great was his surprise upon examining the
nest to find it the structure of a robin. It contained
four beautiful eggs, greenish white in ground color and
heavily spotted and blotched with reddish brown. Thus, on
June 16, 1903, the first authentic eggs of the solitary
sandpiper were taken but it was not until a year later
that the identity of the bird was definitely established.
It was indeed interesting, 20 years later, to be shown the
cabin and to view the original tree from which the eggs
were collected. Subsequent to the finding of this nest many
others have been located, the bird evidencing no particular
choice of nest in which to deposit its eggs, the list
including those of the bronzed grackle, Brewer’s blackbird,
cedar waxwing, kingbird, robin, and Canada jay. These have
been found at an elevation as low as 4 feet and as high as
40 and in locations contiguous to water and as far away as
200 yards.
Walter Raine (1904), for whom Mr. Thomson was collecting eggs at the
time, was the first to publish the important news, but he waited a year
until another nest was found and the parent bird shot. The following
year, 1904, Mr. Thomson found two more nests and shot the parent bird
from the last one. Mr. Raine (1904) then published a full account of
all three nests, each of which contained four eggs. The first nest,
taken June 16, 1903, was “an old nest of the American robin, built 15
feet up in a tamarack tree, that was growing in the middle of a large
muskeg, dotted with tamaracks.” The second was found on June 9, 1904,
an old “nest of a bronzed grackle, built in a low tree.” The third set
was taken on June 24, 1904, and the parent bird was shot, as she flew
from “the nest of a cedar waxwing, which was built in a small spruce
tree growing in a swamp, the nest being about 5 feet from the water.”
Since then numerous other nests have been found in similar situations.
A. D. Henderson (1923) reported a nest found in 1914, about a “dozen
feet up in a poplar tree,” and on June 7, 1922, a set of eggs was taken
for him, with the parent, by a young friend:
The nest was in a white birch tree, growing at the edge
of the timber, on the shore of a small lake, and about
150 yards from his home. A brood of young robins had been
raised in it last season, he told me. It was about 18
feet from the ground and a typical robin’s nest, of grass
and mud. The inside lining of grass was gone and the eggs
lay in the bare mud cup, no material being added by the
sandpiper, which I identified as the eastern form of the
bird.
Mr. Henderson and Richard C. Harlow took a set of four fresh eggs on
May 30, 1923, near Belvedere, Alberta, from an old robin’s nest 10 feet
up in a scrubby spruce, 30 feet high, on the muskeg border of a swampy
lake. A nest found by Messrs. Street (1923) and Stuart, near Red Lodge,
Alberta, on May 29, 1923, was also an old robin’s nest only 4 feet from
the ground in an 8-foot spruce, in a muskeg surrounded by spruces and
tamaracks.
Mr. Henderson tells me that he thinks he now understands the nesting
habits of this species more thoroughly, for he has found five sets of
eggs this season, 1927. He says:
The principal breeding place seems to be around small
lakes or ponds in muskegs; and the bird they are chiefly
associated with is the rusty blackbird, which also breeds
among the same surroundings, and whose nests are as
suitable for the solitary sandpiper as are those of the
robin. A few breed around lakes and sloughs, away from
the muskegs, but the main body is in the muskeg country
associated with the rusty blackbird.
_Eggs._--The solitary sandpiper lays almost invariably four eggs; I
believe there is only one set of five recorded. They are ovate pyriform
in shape, with a slight gloss, and the shell is very fragile. There are
two distinct types of ground color, green and buff. These two types are
well illustrated by the Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain (1907) in an excellent
colored plate. In the green type the ground colors vary from “pale
glaucous green,” or “pale turtle green,” to greenish white; and in
the buff type, from “cream buff” to “cartridge buff.” They are rather
thickly spotted and blotched with irregular markings, usually more
thickly about the larger end, where the spots are sometimes confluent.
The underlying spots and blotches in various shades of “purple drab”
and “heliotrope gray” are often quite conspicuous. Over these the
eggs are boldly marked with dark rich browns, “claret brown,” “liver
brown,” “bay” and “chocolate,” or even darker colors where the pigment
is thickest. One beautiful egg, figured by Mr. Jourdain (1907), has
a “pale glaucous green” ground color, with only two blotches of very
dark brown near the larger end, heavily splashed elsewhere with “pallid
purple drab,” and sparingly peppered with light brown. The measurements
of 68 eggs average 36 by 25.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =38.5= by =27=, =33.7= by 23.8 and 36.1 by =23.6=
millimeters.
_Plumages._--I have never seen this species in natal down, but Ora W.
Knight (1908) says that “the downy young are a general grayish buff
above with darker suffusions on the back; a darker line through each
eye from bill to nape; darkish crown line; below white with slight
dusky suffusion on flanks.”
Young birds in juvenal plumage are grayish brown above, lighter and
more olivaceous than in adults, and thickly spotted with white or
buffy white; the sides of the head and neck are grayish, indistinctly
streaked with dusky on the neck. A partial postjuvenal molt occurs in
the fall producing a first winter plumage, in which young birds may be
distinguished by retained juvenal wing coverts. Young birds are also
more profusely spotted on the upper parts and less distinctly streaked
on the neck and breast than adults. At the first prenuptial molt, the
following spring, the young bird becomes practically adult.
Adults have a partial prenuptial molt, between February and May,
involving the body plumage, the tail and some scapulars, wing coverts,
and tertials. The complete postnuptial molt begins in July with the
change of the body plumage and may last through September, but the
primaries are not molted until the winter months, December to February.
The winter plumage is similar to the nuptial, but the upper parts are
grayer and less distinctly spotted; the neck and chest are only very
indistinctly streaked with grayish.
_Food._--Dr. Elliott Coues (1874) has described the feeding habits of
solitary sandpipers so well that I can not do better than to quote his
words, as follows:
They differ from most of their relatives in their choice of
feeding grounds or of places where they usually alight to
rest while migrating; a difference accompanied, I suppose,
by a corresponding modification in diet. Their favorite
resorts are the margins of small, stagnant pools, fringed
with rank grass and weeds; the miry, tide-water ditches
that intersect marshes; and the soft, oozy depressions in
low meadows and water savannas. They frequent also the
interior of woods not too thick and collect there about the
rain puddles, the water of which is delayed in sinking by
the matted layer of decaying leaves that covers the ground.
After heavy rains I have seen them running about like grass
plovers on open, level commons, covered only with short
turf. They also have a fancy, shared by few birds except
the titlarks, for the pools of liquid manure usually found
in some out of the way place upon the thrifty farmer’s
premises. They find abundant food in all these places,
aquatic insects of all sorts, and especially their curious
larvae, worms, grubs, and perhaps the smallest sorts of
molluscs; with all these they also take into their gizzards
a quantity of sand and gravel, to help along the grinding
process. With food to be had in such plenty with little
labor the birds become, particularly in the fall, extremely
fat.
Edward H. Forbush (1912) says:
In the fall, on its return from the north, it has a habit
of wading into the water in stagnant ditches or ponds,
where it advances one foot at a time, and by rapidly moving
the forward foot stirs up the vegetation at the bottom ever
so slightly. This motion is so swift and delicate that
the leg seems to be merely trembling, as if the bird were
chilled by contact with the water, but it is done with
intent to disturb insects among the algae at the bottom
without roiling the water, and the eager bird, leaning
forward, plunges in its bill and head, sometimes to the
eyes, and catches the alarmed water insects as they dart
away. I have watched this carefully with a glass while
lying in the grass only 10 or 12 feet from the bird. It is
easy by stirring the bottom slightly with a stick to cause
a similar movement of the water insects, but I never could
agitate it so delicately as to avoid clouding the water
with sediment from the bottom.
Giraud (1844) says that “on the wing it is very active, and is
sometimes seen darting after winged insects, which it is expert in
catching.” Other observers have noted in its food various insects
and their larvae, dragon-fly nymphs, water-scavenger beetles, water
boatmen, grasshoppers, caterpillars, spiders, worms, small crustaceans,
and small frogs.
_Behavior._--The solitary sandpiper is always light, graceful, and
dainty in all its movements. In spite of the unsavory places in which
it often feeds, its trim figure is always neat and clean. In flight it
is light and airy as it flits away for a short distance, only to alight
again and lift its prettily lined wings high above its back before
folding them. It flies higher than the spotted sandpiper and more
swiftly, often in a zigzag manner, a trick probably learned by dodging
branches in the woods, and the wings are raised well above the body on
the upward stroke.
Walter H. Rich (1907) says:
There is scarcely another bird which flies with so little
apparent effort. His strokes are slow and regular, a short
sailing between each motion, but he moves very fast. Let
him be alarmed and he will quicken his speed until he seems
only a black streak in the air, and as he rises to top the
surrounding trees it needs good and quick work with the gun
to stop him.
It frequently indulges in a peculiar tilting and nodding habit, similar
to that of the spotted sandpiper, but it is more deliberate and not so
pronounced; it seems to be more of a bow than a tip-up more like the
bobbing of the yellowlegs. It moves about rather sluggishly, wading in
shallow water or even standing motionless, where its colors blend into
its dark background and make it difficult to see. If it wades beyond
its depth, it swims readily and can even dive to escape its enemies.
John T. Nichols says in his notes:
In feeding it frequently lowers the head with a drilling
motion, especially when immersing its bill in the water,
apparently probing in the mud at such times, whereas as a
rule our tattlers feed by snatching. It frequently stops
to scratch its head with one foot. When bathing it ducks
and splashes and sits in the water soaking, and at the
conclusion of the bath, trips out onto the mud, raises the
wings once or twice, and preens itself thoroughly. I have
seen a solitary, alighted in a pool on the marsh, preening
its feathers without dipping its bill in the water, and am
not aware whether it has this bill-dipping habit common
with some of its relatives.
Harrison F. Lewis has sent me the following notes on the rather
peculiar behavior of a solitary sandpiper which he watched for some
time:
The sandpiper, which was well aware that I was watching
it, stepped slowly out onto the open surface of the mud
of the bog, and, standing there with its left side toward
me, repeated several times the following curious actions.
It spread its wings about halfway, holding them stiffly
in the plane of its back, neither raised nor lowered, so
that the dark markings on its axillards were slightly
visible. At the same time it drew its head as far backward
and its tail as far forward over its back as possible,
and slowly lowered its breast until it almost seemed to
touch the mud. After remaining rigid in this position for
10 to 15 seconds, it would suddenly relax and become its
normal self, only to repeat the entire procedure almost
immediately. I could think of no purpose for these actions,
unless they were an attempt at concealment by making the
bird’s outlines and colors as unlike as possible to those
normally to be expected in a sandpiper. Although it did not
conceal itself from me by this means, it made itself appear
extremely unlike a bird.
Solitary sandpipers are usually very tame and unsuspicious, often to
the verge of stupidity, as the following incident, related by Doctor
Coues (1874) well illustrates:
Once coming up to a fence that went past a little pool,
and peeping through the slats, I saw eight tattlers of
this species wading about in the shallow water, searching
for food. I pulled trigger on one; the others set up a
simultaneous outcry, and I expected them, of course, to
fly off, but they presently quieted down and began feeding
again. Without moving from my place, I fired three times
more, killing a single bird at each discharge; still
no effect upon the survivors, except as before. Then I
climbed over the fence, and stood in full view of the four
remaining birds; they merely flapped to the further side
of the pool, and stood still looking at me, nodding away,
as if agreed that the whole thing was very singular. I
stood and deliberately loaded and fired three times more,
taking one bird each time; and it was only as I was ramming
another charge, that the sole surviving bird concluded to
make off, which he did, I will add in justice to his wits,
in a great hurry.
Mr. Brewster (1925) says:
Not less confiding than sluggish, they will usually allow
a man to approach in the open to within less than a dozen
yards, and sometimes he may almost lay his hands on young
and inexperienced birds, while several of these may
continue to gaze at him with obviously serene unconcern
immediately after he has discharged his gun directly over
their heads. There are times, however, especially in
calm weather, when the report of a gun, or the sound of
one’s paddle striking against the side of a boat, will
instantly startle all the solitary sandpipers within 20
rods, causing them to rise on wing with loud outcries,
and to fly off singly, in various directions, to more or
less distant places. In summer and autumn they invariably
act thus independently of one another when flushed, and
also when engaged in feeding, although by no means averse
to assembling rather numerously where food is especially
plentiful or easily obtained.
_Voice._--Mr. Nichols has described this very satisfactorily, in his
notes, as follows:
The ordinary notes of the solitary sandpiper are very
close to those of the spotted, but probably always
differentiable. They are sharper, cleaner cut, less
variable. The full-flight note is a sharp piping _peep weep
weep_, more often three than two syllabled when a bird is
definitely leaving a locality, or by wandering birds which
ordinarily fly high. In birds flushed on, or making longer
or shorter flights to different parts of the same marsh
where they were living, the same note was usually double
_peep weep_, rarely single.
A quite dissimilar call, less frequently heard, is a fine
_pit pit pit_, or _chi tit_. This may have no significance
other than being a reduction of the preceding, when the
bird is less definitely on the wing, but seems to depend
on their being another individual fairly close by. There
is likely homology between it and the short flocking call
of the lesser yellowlegs, and if correctly determined, a
certain analogy thereto is also established, perhaps as
much as possible with this non-social species. Of similar
quality was a peculiar _kikikiki_ from one of two birds in
company which came to decoys nicely, as they went on past
my rig without alighting.
A third kind of note, isolated _pips_, suggesting the call
of the water thrush, is expressive of excitement when a
bird is on the ground, as when just alighted.
_Field marks._--The field characters are also well described by Mr.
Nichols, as follows:
In flight the under surface of the solitary sandpiper’s
wings appears blackish. Birds on the ground not
infrequently raise the wings over the back, displaying
this mark to advantage. Its tail, spread when about to
alight, appears white with a contrasting dark center. When
traveling in the air its flight is either swift and darting
or else resembles that of a yellowlegs, a little jerkier.
When about to alight it usually drops down abruptly, much
as the Wilson’s snipe does; and when flying only a few
yards it has a peculiar jerky flight with wings partially
spread. On the ground it looks much like a yellowlegs, but
is darker, smaller, and stands relatively lower. Its legs
are olive green; very rarely an individual in spring has
quite yellow legs.
_Fall._--The fall migration of the solitary sandpiper is a general
southward movement all across the continent, performed in a leisurely
manner. The earliest birds, probably adults, reach New England in July;
and late birds, probably young, linger through October. Mr. Brewster
(1925) says:
On August 2, 1873, I saw fully 100 along the Androscoggin
River between the lake and Errol Dam, and almost as many
more, a few hours later, while going up the Magalloway
River some 7 or 8 miles. At that date in almost any year
there is, throughout the whole Umbagog region, almost no
muddy shore of pond, lake, river, lagoon, or brook, whether
open to the sun or densely shaded by overhanging foliage,
which is not frequented by one or more solitary sandpipers.
Hence we may safely assume that in the region at large they
are regularly present in far greater numbers during August
than at any other time of year.
When with us in the fall they are more likely to be seen on open
meadows or salt marshes than they are in the spring, often in company
with lesser yellowlegs. Mr. Nichols writes to me:
In the first half of August, 1919, this species was
unusually plentiful, living on the bay marsh at Mastic,
Long Island, with maximum numbers August 9 to 10. The birds
frequented the larger bits of flooded dead marsh that
yellowlegs love and were also found in smaller, less open,
pools more overshadowed by grass. On August 16 and 17 two
birds were also repeatedly found feeding on patches of weed
matted at the surface of an adjacent creek, exceedingly
tame. The presence of these solitary sandpipers on a
coastal marsh may have been due to conditions of high-water
level prevailing at the time, flooding the muddy borders of
inland pools where they are ordinarily to be looked for.
Capt. Savile G. Reid (1884) says that in Bermuda “they generally come
with the other species in August. They soon betake themselves to the
wooded swamps, where they may be found singly or in pairs throughout
the autumn.”
On the Pacific coast both races of the solitary sandpiper occur
regularly on the fall migration, but the western race is undoubtedly
much commoner and is supposed by some to be the only race found west of
the Rocky Mountains. The migration occurs mainly in August and early
September. J. A. Munro tells me that he gets both forms regularly at
Okanagan Landing, British Columbia.
_Winter._--A few birds may spend the winter in the West Indies, but the
main winter home of the species is in South America. The distribution
of the two forms in winter is not well understood and probably both
races are more or less mixed. W. H. Hudson (1920) writes:
I was once pleased and much amused to discover in a small,
sequestered pool in a wood, well sheltered from sight by
trees and aquatic plants, a solitary sandpiper living in
company with a blue bittern. The bittern patiently watched
for small fishes and when not fishing dozed on a low branch
overhanging the water, while its companion ran briskly
along the margin snatching up minute insects from the
water. When disturbed they rose together, the bittern with
its harsh, grating scream, the sandpiper daintily piping
its fine, bright notes--a wonderful contrast! Every time I
visited the pool afterwards I found these two hermits, one
so sedate in manner the other so lively, living peacefully
together.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North America chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains to South
America.
_Breeding range._--The only unquestioned eggs of the solitary sandpiper
that have been collected have come from Alberta where it is known to
breed from the northern part south as far as Stony Plain and Red Lodge.
A pair of adult birds with young also were collected in 1921, 30 miles
below Fort Simpson, Mackenzie (Williams, 1922), while the same observer
found them common in the vicinity of Fort Norman, Mackenzie, as late as
August 14.
It has been reported breeding as far south as Iowa (Keokuk and
Winneshiek Counties); Ohio (Columbus); and Pennsylvania (Pocono
Mountain and Beaver); and east to New Hampshire (Isle of Shoals,
Franconia, and Appledore); Maine (Penobscot and Aroostook Counties);
and Quebec (Lake Mistassinni and Godbout). The circumstances attendant
upon each of these and intermediate cases are such as to cause doubts
concerning their authenticity, although it seems probable that the
species did, (and possibly still does) breed somewhere in eastern North
America.
_Winter range._--The solitary sandpipers wintering in South America
have been determined subspecifically only on a few occasions, so
it should be understood that the following outline includes both
_solitaria_ and _cinnamomea_. Specimens collected in Colombia by
Chapman and Todd all prove to be _solitaria_, while Chapman obtained
both races in Ecuador.
The winter range of the species extends north to Vera Cruz (Playa
Vicente); rarely Florida (probably Pensacola, probably Waukeenah,
Sevenoaks, and Safety Harbor); rarely Georgia (Chatham County);
probably the Bahama Islands (Inagua); Jamaica; and Porto Rico. East
to Porto Rico; eastern Venezuela (mouth of the Orinoco River);
British Guiana (Bartica); Dutch Guiana (Surinam and Maroni River);
French Guiana (Cayenne); Brazil (Mixiana, Para, Chapada, Urucuia, and
Pitanguy); Paraguay (Colonia Risso); Uruguay (Rocha, Montevideo, and
Colonia); and Argentina (Buenos Aires and Azul). South to Argentina
(Azul and Cordoba). West to Argentina (Cordoba, Tucuman, Salta, and
Oran); Bolivia (Caiza); Peru (Chorillos, Cajabamba, and Tumbez);
Ecuador (Guayaquil and Quito); Colombia (Cali, Novita, Medellin, Puerto
Berrio, and Santa Marta); Costa Rica (San Jose); Guatemala (Los Amates
and Duenas); Yucatan (Tabi); and Vera Cruz (Playa Vicente).[1]
[1] The migration dates here given probably include, in many cases,
observations and records for both _solitaria_ and _cinnamomea_.
_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival in the spring migration
are: South Carolina, Charleston, March 27, and Aiken, March 30; North
Carolina, Raleigh, April 4, and Weaverville, April 9; District of
Columbia, Washington, March 30; Pennsylvania, State College, April
14, Sewickley, April 15, and Doylestown, April 16; New Jersey, Dead
River, April 18; New York, York, April 18, Ithaca, April 20, and New
York City, April 21; Connecticut, Litchfield, April 27, and New Haven,
April 29; Massachusetts, Northampton, April 25, Melrose, April 26,
and Fitchburg, April 28; Vermont, Randolph, April 26, Bennington,
May 4, and Wells River, May 6; New Hampshire, Manchester, April
26, and Monadnock, May 11; Maine, Orono, May 3, Pittsfield, May 6,
and Waterville, May 7; Quebec, Quebec, May 1, and Godbout, May 4;
Mississippi, Bay St. Louis, March 17, and Biloxi, March 25; Louisiana,
Hester, March 16; Arkansas, Monticello, March 24, and Tillar, March
31; Tennessee, Nashville, April 7; Kentucky, Bowling Green, April 8,
and Russellville, April 9; Missouri, Jonesburg, March 19, and Monteer,
April 6; Illinois, Rantoul, March 24, Danville, April 2, and Chicago,
April 7; Indiana, Frankfort, March 15, Indianapolis, March 17, and
Delhi, March 28; Ohio, Oberlin, March 28, Sandusky, March 31, and
Scio, April 7; Michigan, Ann Arbor, April 23, Hillsdale, April 24, and
Portage Lake, April 30; Ontario, Toronto, March 16, London, April 28,
and Ottawa, May 2; Iowa, Hillsboro, April 10, National, April 14, and
Sigourney, April 20; Wisconsin, Beloit, April 24, Milwaukee, April 25,
and Madison, April 26; Minnesota, Minneapolis, April 17, Hallock, April
21, and Lanesboro, April 24; Texas, Santa Maria, March 3, Brownsville,
March 17, Texas City, March 22, and Boerne, March 25; Kansas, Wichita,
March 29, Emporia, April 10, and Independence, April 16; Nebraska,
Neligh, April 20, Red Cloud, April 25, and Valentine, April 27;
South Dakota, Forestburg, April 16, and Huron, May 3; North Dakota,
Charlson, April 27, and Bismarck, April 30; Manitoba, Aweme, April
29; Saskatchewan, Wiseton, May 13, and Osler, May 19; and Alberta,
Alliance, May 2, Flagstaff, May 4, and Oonoway, May 5.
Late dates of spring departure are Colombia, La Manuelita, April
11, and eastern Santa Marta region, April 18; Costa Rica, San Jose,
April 27; Yucatan, Rio Lagartoo, April 13; West Indies, San Domingo,
April 27; Cuba, Isle of Pines, May 18; Bahama Islands, Nassau, May
10; Florida, St. Marks, May 10, and Pensacola, May 30; Alabama, Bayou
Labatre, May 20, and Autaugaville, May 23; Georgia, Macon, May 10, and
Savannah, May 17; South Carolina, Aiken, May 10, Frogmore, May 19,
and Mount Pleasant, May 27; North Carolina, Weaverville, May 20, and
Raleigh, May 28; District of Columbia, Washington, May 21; Maryland,
Sandy Springs, May 22, and Cumberland, May 23; New Jersey, Camden,
May 25, Morristown, June 7, and Bernardsville, June 11; New York,
Rhinebeck, May 26, Cincinnatus, May 31, and Orient Point, June 6;
Connecticut, Norwalk, May 27, and Litchfield, May 31; Rhode Island,
Providence, June 3; Massachusetts, Worcester, May 30, Melrose, June
1, and New Boston, June 10; Louisiana, New Orleans, May 6, and Bains,
May 12; Mississippi, Ellisville, May 17; Tennessee, Nashville, May 27,
and Knoxville, June 12; Kentucky, Bowling Green, May 22; Missouri, St.
Louis, May 16, and Monteer, May 20; Illinois, Chicago, May 26, Joliet,
May 28, and Rantoul, May 29; Indiana, Goshen, May 24, and Holland,
May 30; Ohio, Columbus, June 1, Oberlin, May 28, and Huron, May 29;
Michigan, Laurium, May 26, and Detroit, May 30; Ontario, Port Perry,
May 27, Toronto, June 3, and Madoc, June 7; Iowa, Sioux City, May 26,
Emmetsburg, May 29, and Sioux City, May 30; Wisconsin, Madison, May
27, and La Crosse, May 29; Minnesota, Waseca, May 22, Hallock, May 25,
and Minneapolis, May 31; Texas, Gainesville, May 15, Kerrville, May
20, and Hidalgo, May 23; Kansas, Lawrence, May 21, and Topeka, May
22; Nebraska, Valentine, May 20, and Lincoln, May 22; South Dakota,
Huron, May 21, Vermilion, May 27, and Forestburg, May 30; North Dakota,
Charlson, May 25; Manitoba, Aweme, May 26, Shell River, May 29, and
Shoal Lake, June 1; and Saskatchewan, Prince Albert, June 5, and
Kutanajan Lake, June 15.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the full migration are:
Saskatchewan, Maple Creek, July 6; Manitoba, Margaret, July 8, and
Oak Lake, July 19; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, July 1, and Forestburg,
July 2; Nebraska, Valentine, July 3; Kansas, Little Blue River, July
22; Texas, Gurley, July 15, Kerrville, July 20, Brownsville, August 2;
Minnesota, St. Vincent, July 2, Lanesboro, July 4, and Minneapolis,
July 15; Wisconsin, Shiocton, June 30, North Freedom, July 14, and
Ladysmith, July 16; Iowa, Marshalltown, July 8, Sioux City, July 12,
and Hillsboro, July 18; Ontario, Toronto, July 10, and Port Dover,
July 13; Michigan, Detroit, July 7, and Charity Island, July 10; Ohio,
Columbus, July 3, Wooster, July 8, and Painesville, July 20; Indiana,
Sedan, July 15; Illinois, Chicago, July 3, Glen Ellyn, July 16, and
Port Byron, July 21; Missouri, Monteer, July 29; Kentucky, Bowling
Green, July 22; Mississippi, Biloxi, July 12, and Bay St. Louis, July
16; Louisiana, New Orleans, July 9; Massachusetts, Becket, July 8,
Harvard, July 12, and Lynn, July 17; Rhode Island, Newport, July 4, and
Providence, July 11; Connecticut, East Hartford, July 14, and Milford,
July 28; New York, Camp Upton, July 8, Rochester, July 12, and Poland,
July 15; Maryland, Calverton, July 14, and Cambridge, July 19; District
of Columbia, Washington, July 15; North Carolina, Raleigh, July 14;
South Carolina, Frogmore, July 24, and Charleston, July 26; Alabama,
Stevenson, July 15, and Leighton, July 17; Florida, Pensacola, July 12,
Bradenton, July 12, St. Marks, July 28, and Key West, July 28; Bahama
Islands, Fortune Island, August 5; Cuba, Isle of Pines, August 20;
Porto Rico, Comerio, July 29; and lesser Antilles, St. Croix, August 5.
Late dates of fall departure are: Keewatin, Echimamish River, September
15; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, September 17, and Aweme, October 5; North
Dakota, Charlson, September 18; South Dakota, Forestburg, September 30;
Nebraska, Valentine, October 9, Nebraska City, October 10, and Lincoln,
October 20; Minnesota, St. Vincent, September 22, Parkers Prairies,
September 30, and Lanesboro, October 4; Wisconsin, Elkhorn, October
10, Delavan, October 20, and Racine, October 30; Iowa, Marshalltown,
October 5, and Hillsboro, October 20; Ontario, Toronto, October 2, St.
Thomas, October 4, and Ottawa, October 31; Michigan, Detroit, October
1; Ohio, Weymouth, October 14, Austinburg, October 28, and Medina,
November 1; Indiana, Indianapolis, October 15, Richmond, October 28,
and Roanoke, November 15; Illinois, Chicago, October 6, La Grange,
October 7, and De Kalb, October 10; Missouri, Jaspar City, October
9, and Independence, October 13; Kentucky, Bowling Green, October
11, Versailles, October 21, and Lexington, October 23; Tennessee,
Knoxville, October 11, and Nashville, November 4; Quebec, Montreal,
September 27; Maine, Portland, October 6, Pittsfield, October 8, and
Hebron, October 20; New Hampshire, Tilton, September 29, Lancaster,
October 5, and Errol, October 31; Vermont, Rutland, October 10, and
West Barnet, October 17; Massachusetts, Lynn, October 28, and Boston,
October 30; Rhode Island, Providence, October 13; New York, Rochester,
October 10, Ithaca, October 19, and New York City, October 31; New
Jersey, Montclair, October 13, Elizabeth, October 16, and Morristown,
November 1; District of Columbia, Washington, October 28; Maryland,
Chesapeake Beach, November 2; and South Carolina, Long Island, November 8.