body plumage, most of the scapulars, and some of the wing coverts and
tertials. The complete postnuptial molt begins sometimes during the
first week in July and sometimes not until the last of that month, and
is completed in about two months, including the wings. A specimen taken
in Argentina on September 21 had renewed the wings and practically all
of the body plumage. In winter plumage the upper parts are brownish
gray, with narrow, light edgings; the sides of the head and the under
parts are white, with little or no barring; there is a dark streak
through the eye, but no rusty on the head.
_Food._--Audubon (1840) watched a flock of about 30 stilt sandpipers
feeding, of which he writes:
I saw a flock of about 30 long-legged sandpipers alight within 10
steps of me, near the water. They immediately scattered, following
the margin of the retiring and advancing waves, in search of food,
which I could see them procure by probing the wet sand in the
manner of curlews, that is, to the full length of their bill,
holding it for a short time in the sand, as if engaging in sucking
up what they found. In this way they continued feeding on an
extended line of shore of about 30 yards, and it was pleasing to
see the alacrity with which they simultaneously advanced and
retreated, according to the motions of the water. In about
three-quarters of an hour, during all which time I had watched them
with attention, they removed a few yards beyond the highest wash of
the waves, huddled close together, and began to plume and cleanse
themselves. In the stomachs of several individuals I found small
worms, minute shellfish, and vegetable substances, among which were
the hard seeds of plants unknown to me.
N.B. Moore watched a stilt sandpiper feeding in Florida and says in his
notes:
It alighted within 20 feet of me and commenced feeding at once, in
water that nearly covered the tarsi. I was surprised to see it
slowly step along, carrying its bill immersed nearly up to the
base, and sweeping it slowly from side to side, much in the manner
of the roseate spoonbills, which were at the same moment feeding
near by. I noticed no action like that of swallowing at any time,
its motions being continuous--as described--until I shot it to make
sure of the species.
Stuart T. Danforth (1925) says of the food of this species in Porto
Rico:
Seven stomachs (five collected on August 20 and two on September
17) were available for examination. Animal matter composed 70.1 per
cent of the food, and vegetable matter of 29.9 per cent. Bloodworms
(Chironomid larvae) were the largest food item, forming 72.8 per
cent of the animal food. From 150 to 600 bloodworms were found in
all but two of the stomachs. Dytiscid larvae formed 15.5 per cent,
small Planorbis snails 7.1 per cent, and mosquito larvae 0.8 per
cent of the animal matter. The vegetable matter was composed of
seeds. Seeds of _Persicaria_ formed 80 per cent of the vegetable
matter; seeds of _Sesban emerus_ 7 per cent; seeds of Compositae
10.2 per cent, and rubbish 2.8 per cent.
Prof. William Rowan writes to me:
In very dirty weather, particularly if a gale is blowing, stilt
sandpipers have been noted hunting for food high and dry on rough
pasture. This is probably an exceptional performance correlated
with this type of weather, for it has never been observed at other
times.
John T. Nichols says in his notes:
Just how this species makes use of its somewhat peculiar bill is
not very clear. I have seen it alighted on flooded dead marsh,
wading in the puddles and picking at the projecting dead stubble
about on its own level. Again I find in my journal reference to
three birds which alighted in water to their thighs, and
immediately began to feed, moving about close together, immersing
the bill to the eyes for an instant or two.
Verdi Burtch (1925), referring to a bird he saw at Branchport, N.Y.,
says:
I saw it catch and with much effort swallow a small frog, after
which it lost all interest in fishing. It walked off a few steps
and stood on one foot, all humped up and with eyes closed; quite a
contrast to the usual alert sandpiper pose.
_Behavior._--Audubon (1840) writes:
The flight of these sandpipers is rapid and regular. They move
compactly, and often when about to alight, or after being
disturbed, incline their bodies to either side, showing alternately
the upper and lower parts. On foot they move more like curlews than
tringas, they being as it were more sedate in their deportment. At
times, on the approach of a person, they squat on the ground, very
much in the manner of the Esquimaux curlew, _Numenius borealis_;
and their flesh is as delicate as that of the species just named.
Dr. Arthur A. Allen (1913), after referring to the companionship and
resemblance between stilt sandpipers and lesser yellow-legs, says:
In their habits, however, the two species were quite different. The
yellow-legs were always rangy birds and covered a great deal of
ground while feeding. Even when resting they were conspicuous by
the nervous jerking of the head and neck. In flight they usually
formed fairly compact flocks but scattered upon alighting. The
stilt sandpipers, on the other hand, were quiet birds and went
about their search for food very systematically, gleaning
everything in their way. They frequently fed in a space a few yards
square for over an hour at a time. When at rest they showed none of
the nervous traits of the yellow-legs, being much more sedate,
neither jerking the head nor tilting the tail. In flight they were
quite similar to the yellow-legs, but as soon as they alighted they
bunched and frequently the whole flock fed with their bodies nearly
touching. Like the yellow-legs, the stilt sandpipers were seldom
seen upon the exposed mud but preferred wading where the water was
from 1 to 3 inches in depth, so that the entire head and neck
frequently disappeared beneath the surface of the water while
feeding. The notes of the two birds, though similar in form, were
wholly unlike in quality, that of the stilt sandpiper being
mellower and lower in pitch.
Coues (1878) at first mistook birds of this species for dowitchers and
did not recognize them until he had them in his hands. He says:
They gathered in the same compact groups, waded about in the same
sedate, preoccupied manner, fed with the same motion of the head,
probing obliquely in shallow water with the head submerged, were
equally oblivious of my approach, and when wounded swam with equal
facility. The close structural resemblances of the two species are
evidently reflected in their general economy.
Mr. Nichols says in his notes:
On alighting the stilt sandpiper sometimes lifts its wings halfway
for an instant, a mannerism characteristic of the tattler group,
which it would seem to have acquired from its associate, the
yellow-legs.
_Voice._--Following are Mr. Nichols's notes on this subject:
The common flight note of the stilt sandpiper is very like the
single whistled _whu_ of the lesser yellow-legs, but recognizably
lower pitched and hoarser, at times with a quaver, _whr-r-u_, and
varying down to a shorter, less loud _whrug_. An unloud, reedy
_sher_ has been heard from two birds when flushing.
Though with different feeding habits, stilt sandpiper, dowitcher,
and lesser yellow-legs frequent the same grounds, associate very
freely on the wing, and all three have a very similar flight note,
though sufficiently different for identification. Perhaps the very
lack of close relationship in these birds has facilitated
convergence of their habits and calls, and it is not unreasonable
to suppose that close association, even imitation, has played some
part in bringing about the likeness of their voices. The greater
yellow-legs differs more from the lesser, both in flight note and
flight habits, than do these other two unrelated species.
_Field marks._--I quote again from Mr. Nichols's notes on field
characters, as follows:
On the wing the stilt sandpiper resembles the lesser yellow-legs
closely. Its smaller size is scarcely appreciable, even in a flock
of yellow-legs, the members of which will usually be at slightly
varying distances from the observer. Adults have appreciably darker
(barred) lower parts, and young birds, particularly, are greyer
above than yellow-legs at the same season in this latitude. The
somewhat shorter legs do not project so far beyond the tail, but
the proportionately longer bill (with slight apparent drop at its
tip) is the stilt sandpiper's best field mark. Its bill is
proportionately longer even than that of the greater yellow-legs,
with which this species is unlikely to be confused, varying as it
does away from the lesser yellow-legs in an opposite direction, both
as regards size and in other subtle characters. The head and neck
of a yellow-legs are more "shapely," differing in this respect
somewhat as a black duck differs from sea ducks.
On the ground the stilt sandpiper stands lower than a yellow-legs,
having decidedly shorter legs, and correspondingly higher than our
other shore birds of the same size. The color of its legs, dull
olive green, is usually diagnostic. The legs are sometimes
yellowish, and very rarely yellow, only one such having come under
the writer's personal notice, a young bird in southward migration.
The name "greenleg" is often used for it by Long Island baymen,
who also suspect it of being a cross between yellow-legs and
dowitcher. At sufficiently close range the margination of the
feathers of the upper parts is quite unlike the spotting of the
yellow-legs' plumage.
The broad white stripe over the eye is conspicuous in any plumage and
the whitish tail shows in flight, as different from the whitish triangle
on the rump and back of the dowitcher or the white rump of the
yellow-legs. Most of these field marks, however, are too subtle for easy
recognition, unless seen under favorable circumstances.
Prof. William Rowan has sent me the following notes:
Identification marks of the stilt are excellent and it is quite an
easy bird to spot in almost any circumstances. It has a rump
pattern all to itself and is therefore readily detected in flight.
The end of the tail is darker than that of a yellow-legs, but the
white of the rump end, instead of forming a straight line across
the back, is horseshoe shaped. Although the turnstone and
semipalmated plovers are reminiscent, they are quite distinct and
not to be confused. When wading--the birds prefer to be belly
deep--the carriage of the head makes the species unmistakable. The
bill is always held and thrust beneath the surface perpendicularly.
This necessitates a straight neck. In profile the feeding
individual can be mistaken for no other sandpiper, is quite
distinct from the yellow-legs, and can really only be confused with
a phalarope. The Wilson phalarope habitually wades in this part of
the world, swimming only occasionally, but its markings are
distinctive. A flock of stilts is the most characteristic sight and
the species can be identified at a great distance. The curious
position of the head just referred to and the crowding of the
individuals into each other make a quite unmistakable combination.
They feed practically shoulder to shoulder, seldom scattering. The
yellow-legs of a flock are always scattered, and the general aspect
of the individuals is entirely different. Stilts never bob their
heads after the manner of yellow-legs.
_Fall._--The fall migration of adults begins very early, coming along
with the dowitchers and first summer yellow-legs. I have an adult female
in my collection, taken on July 5, 1885, on Monomoy Island,
Massachusetts. The main flight of adults comes along during the latter
half of July and first half of August, in this State, and the young
birds come through in August and September; but this is a rare bird
here, and the flight generally lasts for only a few days.
Mr. Nichols tells me that:
On Long Island the stilt sandpiper is usually uncommon, occurring
in small numbers often closely associated with lesser yellow-legs or
dowitcher. Rarely it occurs in great waves or flights as on August
12, 1912. This flight was made up exclusively of adult birds, so
far as the writer's observations went. For the remainder of that
season the species was unusually common. If, in ordinary years,
some 200 stilt sandpipers are present on Long Island in southward
migration, there were probably 3,000 in 1912. The earliest I have
seen this species south on Long Island is July 10, 1921, two or
three or more individuals associated with 40 or 50 lesser
yellow-legs.
In the interior this species is commoner than it is on the Atlantic
coast. Mr. Harrold says that in Manitoba it is fairly common in the
fall, adults being noted as early as July 5; the young birds are usually
with the lesser yellow-legs in the fall. Mr. Hersey collected a series
for me in Manitoba between July 18 and 29, 1913. Stilt sandpipers were
formerly sold in the markets, mixed with bunches of summer yellow-legs,
but their sale is now prohibited, and they are too small to be
considered as game birds.
_Winter._--The winter home of the stilt sandpiper seems to be in
southern South America, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile, but
actual records substantiated by specimens are not numerous. Ernest
Gibson (1920) shot some "out of a flock of over 100" which "might easily
have been 200, so closely were they massed." They "were feeding on
marshy ground; and as the flock rose at" his "approach, circled and
passed away, the white under surfaces were quite dazzling in the
sunlight." This was near Cape San Antonio, Buenos Aires, on December 27,
1913.
Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) writes:
The stilt sandpiper was encountered only in the Chaco, west of
Puerto Pinasco, Paraguay, though it has been said that it is common
in some parts of the Province of Buenos Aires in winter. At
kilometer 80, on September 20, 1920, the first arrivals, a flock of
a dozen, were recorded at the border of a lagoon; as I watched they
rose suddenly to whirl rapidly away to the southward. On the
following day about 20 were seen, and an adult female was taken. At
Kilometer 170, on September 24, a small flock passed down the
nearly dry channel of an alkaline stream known as the Riacho
Salado, while at Laguna Wall (kilometer 200) about 30 were seen
September 24, and 40 on the day following. The birds were found in
little flocks, often mingled with other waders that walked or waded
through shallow water on muddy shores where they probed with their
bills for food.
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North America, south to southern South America. The stilt
sandpiper is one of the rarer shore birds and but little is known of its
range and migrations.
_Breeding range._--North to probably northeastern Alaska (Demarcation
Point); probably Yukon (Herschel Island); Mackenzie (Fort Anderson,
Rendezvous Lake, Franklin Bay, and probably Kogaryuak River); and
probably Keewatin (Cape Eskimo). East to probably Keewatin (Cape
Eskimo); and probably Manitoba (Fort Churchill and York Factory). South
to probably Manitoba (York Factory); and Mackenzie (Artillery Lake).
West to Mackenzie (Artillery Lake); and probably Alaska (Demarcation
Point). Eggs have been taken only in northern Mackenzie.
_Winter range._--Imperfectly known, but probably north to Tepic
(Acaponeta River); Zacatecas; Tamaulipas (Matamoros); rarely Texas
(Corpus Christi); rarely Louisiana (State Game Preserve); and Cuba. East
probably to Cuba; and Brazil (Ilha Grande). South probably to Brazil
(Ilha Grande); Uruguay (Colonia); and Chile. West to Chile; Bolivia
(Falls of the Madeira); central Peru (Chorillos and Yquitos); Ecuador
(Babahoyo); Colombia (Cienaga); Nicaragua (_=Momotombo=_); Guatemala
(Duenas); Oaxaca (Tehuantepec); Jalisco (Manzanillo and La Barca); and
Tepic (Ocaponeta River).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival in the spring are: Florida,
Banana Creek, March 10, Smyrna, March 26, and Pensacola, April 5; North
Carolina, Cape Hatteras, May 19; New York, Long Island, May 18;
Connecticut, Westport, May 28, and West Haven, May 30; Rhode Island,
Sakonnet, May 9; Maine, Saco, May 5; Missouri, Kansas City, April 30;
Illinois, Chicago, May 26; Iowa, Sioux City, May 7, Emmetsburg, May 10,
and Wall Lake, May 23; Wisconsin, Racine, April 10; Minnesota, Wilder,
May 1, and Waseca, May 14; Texas, Bonham, March 29; Kansas, McPherson,
May 7; Nebraska, Kearney, May 6, and Neligh, May 10; South Dakota,
Harrison, May 5, Vermilion, May 9, and Sioux Falls, May 14; North
Dakota, Harrisburg, May 1, and Sweetwater, May 5; Manitoba, Whitewater
Lake, May 12; Colorado, Barr, April 27, Fort Lyon, May 2, Colorado
Springs, May 14, and Loveland, May 20; Wyoming, Cheyenne, May 25;
Alberta, Fort Chipewyan, June 6; Mackenzie, Fort Resolution, May 19, and
Athabaska delta, June 4; and Alaska, Demarcation Point, May 23.
Stilt sandpipers also have been detected as late as April in Cuba and
Jamaica while a late date for their departure from Lake Palomas, Mexico,
is April 7, from Dummetts, Florida, April 14 and Port Orange, Florida,
May 5.
_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival for the species on its return
from the North are: Colorado, Barr, July 5; North Dakota, Benson County,
July 1, and Nelson's Lake, July 14; South Dakota, Forestburg, July 7;
Nebraska, Lincoln, July 19; Iowa, Sioux City, July 12; Texas Corpus
Christi, July 3; Ontario, Toronto, July 18; Maine, Chebeague Island,
July 19, and Scarboro, July 30; New Hampshire, Rye, July 31;
Massachusetts, Cape Cod, July 4, and Needham, July 24; Rhode Island,
Newport, July 6, and Block Island, July 15; New York, East Hampton, July
11; North Carolina, Churches Island, July 29; Bahama Islands, Fortune
Island, August 5; Barbados, July; St. Batholomew, September; and
Paraguay, Kilometer 80, September 20.
Late dates of fall departure are: British Columbia, Sumas Lake,
September 19; Colorado, Fort Lyon, September 8, Larimer County,
September 9, and Barr, October 5; Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, August 19,
and Lower Slave River, August 27; Manitoba, Carberry, August 29, and
Qu'Appelle, September 16; Nebraska, Lincoln, November 11; Kansas,
Lawrence, September 19; Wisconsin, Kelley Brook, September 13; Iowa,
Burlington, September 28; Ontario, Toronto, September 26; Ohio,
Columbus, October 4; Illinois, Chicago, September 1, Grand Crossing,
September 23, and Cantine Lake, September 28; Missouri, St. Louis,
September 12, and Kansas City, September 28; Maine, Scarboro, September
16; Massachusetts, Chatham, September 20, and Cape Cod, September 29;
Rhode Island, Newport, September 9; New York, Buffalo, September 16,
Bronx, September 19, Cayuga, October 10, and Jamaica, November 28; New
Jersey, Morristown, October 16; Maryland, Pawtuxent River, September 8;
District of Columbia, Anacostia River, October 26; North Carolina,
Churches Island, September 23; and Florida, Fernandina, October 10, and
Key West, November 1.
_Casual records._--The rarity of the stilt sandpiper makes it difficult
to determine whether some occurrences should be listed as regular
migrants or as accidentals. Some of the following cases may be on the
regular migration route of the species: Bermuda, two early in August,
1848 and one in early September, 1875; Newfoundland, Cow Head,
September, 1867; Nova Scotia, Sable Island, August 18, 1902; New
Brunswick, Courtenay Bay, September 8, 1881; and Montana, Chief
Mountain, August, 1874.
_Egg dates._--Arctic Canada: 3 records, June 22 and 27 and July 8.
CALIDRIS CANUTUS RUFUS (Wilson)
AMERICAN KNOT
HABITS
This cosmopolitan species, with a circumpolar breeding range, has been
split into two generally recognized forms occupying the two hemispheres,
with a doubtful third form, _rodgersi_, said to occupy eastern Asia. Our
American bird is well named _rufus_ on account of its color.
The knot, or redbreast, as it is called on Cape Cod, was a very abundant
migrant all along the Atlantic coast of North America during the past
century. George H. Mackay (1893) writes:
On the Dennis marshes and flats, at Chatham, the Nauset, Wellfleet,
and Billingsgate, Cape Cod, and on the flats around Tuckernuck and
Muskeget Islands, Mass., they used to be more numerous than in all
the rest of New England combined, and being very gregarious they
would collect in those places in exceedingly large numbers,
estimates of which were useless. This was previous to 1850 and when
the Cape Cod Railroad was completed only to Sandwich. Often, when
riding on the top of the stage coach on the cape beyond this point,
immense numbers of these birds could be seen, as they rose up in
clouds, during the period that they sojourned there. It was at this
time that the vicious practice of "fire-lighting" them prevailed,
and a very great number of them were thus killed on the flats at
night in the vicinity of Billingsgate (near Wellfleet). The mode of
procedure was for two men to start out after dark at half tide, one
of them to carry a lighted lantern, the other to reach and seize
the birds, bite their necks, and put them in a bag slung over the
shoulder. When near a flock they would approach them on their hands
and knees, the birds being almost invariably taken on the flats.
This practice continued several years before it was finally
prohibited by law. I have it directly from an excellent authority
that he has seen in the spring, six barrels of these birds (all of
which had been taken in this manner) at one time, on the deck of
the Cape Cod packet for Boston. He has also seen barrels of them,
which had spoiled during the voyage, thrown overboard in Boston
Harbor on arrival of the packet. The price of these birds at that
time was 10 cents per dozen; mixed with them would be turnstones
and black-bellied plover. Not one of these birds had been shot, all
having been taken with the aid of a "fire-light."
Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says:
On May 18, 1895, I saw, on Long Island beach, a flock of these
birds which I estimated to contain fully fifteen hundred
individuals, while on May 21 of the same year, I observed a flock
that had alighted on the beach, and that comprised without a doubt
more than 3,000 birds.
Excessive shooting, both in spring and fall, reduced this species to a
pitiful remnant of its former numbers; but spring shooting was stopped
before it was too late and afterwards this bird was wisely taken off the
list of game birds; it has increased slowly since then, but it is far
from abundant now and makes only a short stay on Cape Cod.
_Spring._--The main migration route of the knot in spring is northward
along the Atlantic coast. The first birds usually reach the United
States from South America early in April. On the west coast of Florida,
in 1925, I took my first birds on April 2, and they were commonest about
the middle of April. I have found them very common on the coast of South
Carolina as late as May 23. Mr. Mackay (1893) writes:
They are still found in greater or less numbers along the Atlantic
coast south of Chesapeake Bay. Near Charleston, S. C., Mr. William
Brewster noted about 150 knots on May 6 and 8, 1885, and saw a
number of flocks on May 13. They were flying by, or were alighted,
on Sullivan Island beach. On May 17, 1883, he noted about 100 of
these birds in the same locality. In the spring they pass Charlotte
Harbor, Florida, so I am informed, in large numbers, coming up the
coast from the south (a flight on May 26, 1890), at which time they
are very tame. They are also more or less numerous near Morehead
City, North Carolina (where they are known as "beach robins"), from
May 15 to 30, their flight being along the beach, just over the
surf, at early morning, coming from the east in the neighborhood of
Point Lookout, 10 or 12 miles away, where they probably resorted to
roost. This indicates that these birds were living in that
locality.
On the Massachusetts coast the spring flight comes in May. Mr. Mackay
(1893) says: