Newfoundland, that the nest is nearly always amongst a labyrinth of
pools of water, and is usually on the side or the top of a hummock of
sphagnum moss, but I have found them on flat ground amongst reindeer
moss. When on a moss hummock, the scratch is about 2 inches deep and
there is always an inch or so of material in the bottom usually composed
of cranberry leaves and short bits of cotton grass stems.
_Eggs._--[_Author's note_: Four eggs is the rule with the least
sandpiper. They vary in shape from ovate pyriform (the usual shape) to
subpyriform, and they have only a slight gloss. The ground colors vary
from "deep olive buff" to "pale olive buff," or from "pale pinkish buff"
to "cartridge buff." There are two extreme types of markings, the boldly
blotched and the finely sprinkled type, with many intergradations
between them. Some eggs are more or less evenly covered, usually more
thickly about the larger end, with a mixture of dots, small spots, and
small, irregular blotches. In some the blotches are larger, more
elongated, often spirally arranged and often confluent at the larger
end. In still others the whole egg is evenly covered with very fine dots
and small markings. There are two sets from Labrador of the latter type
in my collection; one has a pinkish ground color, covered uniformly with
a fine sprinkling of reddish brown markings, exactly like certain eggs
of the western sandpiper; the other set is similarly marked, but the
ground color is "olive buff" and the markings are in darker browns. At
the other end of the range of variation I have a particularly handsome
egg, which has an "olive buff" ground color, with a few large splashes
of "vinaceous drab," overlaid, chiefly around the larger end, with a few
great splashes of "liver brown," "chestnut brown," and "bone brown." The
ordinary markings are in various shades of dark, rich browns, "bay,"
"liver brown," "chestnut," and "hazel," deepening to blackish brown
where the pigment is thickest. The underlying spots are in pale shades
of "vinaceous drab." The measurements of 65 eggs in the United States
National Museum average 29 by 21 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =31= by 21, 30 by =22=, 26.5 by =20=, and 28 by =19=
millimeters.]
_Young._--Incubation is believed to be performed largely by the male.
Mr. Philipp (1925):
Collected four birds from the nests and all proved to be males on
dissection. Also a bird which was accidentally stepped on while it
was shielding four young or "downies" was a male. In fact, after
the eggs are laid both birds are seldom seen around the nest. The
incubating bird is most solicitous about its nest. It sits very
closely and, when flushed, half runs, half flutters for a few feet
as if trying to lead the intruder away. If you are not deceived by
these actions but remain quiet, the bird soon returns and walks
daintily about, uttering a quickly repeated _peep, peep, peep_,
often with such vehemence that the saliva fairly runs from its
bill.
Mr. Moore (1912), however, shot a bird which he thought was both
incubating and singing, and it proved to be a female.
Sometimes both parents show solicitude for the young as in the following
case in the Yukon region, reported by Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1900):
I came upon a female surrounded by four downy young. Both parents
tried time and again the well known wounded-bird tactics to lure me
from the spot where the young were hidden in the bunches of grass,
and finding this a failure, would circle around me only a few yards
off, uttering a plaintive twitter.
_Plumages._--[_Author's note_: The tiny chick of the least sandpiper is
prettily colored as are the young of all the tundra nesting species. The
upper parts, crown, back, wings, and thighs, are quite uniformly
variegated with rich browns, "bay," "chestnut" and "Sanford's brown,"
through which the black basal down shows in places; this is spotted
irregularly, from crown to rump, with small round spots, terminal tufts,
of yellowish buff. The forehead and sides of the head and neck are pale
buff, with narrow, black frontal, loral and malar stripes. The under
parts are pure white.
Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they arrive here in August and
generally do not show much signs of molting before they leave here in
September. This plumage is darker and more richly colored above than in
the spring adult; the feathers of the crown, back, scapulars and all
wing coverts are broadly edged with rich, bright browns, "hazel" or
"cinnamon rufous," broadest and brightest on the back and scapulars;
some scapulars are tipped with white; the throat is often faintly, but
sometimes not at all, streaked with dusky. A partial postjuvenal molt in
the fall, involving the body plumage and some of the scapulars and
tertials, produces a first winter plumage which can be distinguished
from the adult by the retained juvenal wing coverts, scapulars, and
tertials. At the first prenuptial molt the next spring young birds
become indistinguishable from adults, except for some of the old juvenal
wing coverts.
The complete postnuptial molt of adults begins in August and is mainly
accomplished after the birds have migrated. At a partial prenuptial
molt, mainly in April and May, the adult renews the body plumage and
tail and some of the tertials and wing coverts. Adults in spring are
more brightly colored, with more rufous and buffy edgings, and the
breast is more distinctly streaked than in fall.]
_Food._--These birds appear to be feeding on small crustaceans and worms
on the beaches and on insects and their larvae in the marshes. It is to
be hoped that with the increase of the birds the pest of green-head
flies and of mosquitoes in the salt marshes may diminish. E. A. Preble
(1923) examined two stomachs from birds shot in the Pribilof Islands and
found that one of them contained amphipods exclusively, the other the
following items: "23 seeds of bottle brush (_Hippuris vulgaris_), 50 per
cent; bits of hydroid stems, 40 per cent; and chitin from the blue
mussel (_Mytilus edulis_), 10 per cent." A. H. Howell (1924) reports as
follows: "Of the 19 stomachs of this bird collected in Alabama,
practically all contained larvae or pupae of small flies (Chironomidae)
in a few bits of aquatic beetles were found." Dr. Alexander Wetmore
(1916) found in the stomach of a bird taken in Porto Rico "the heads of
more than 100 minute fly larvae (75 per cent) and fragments of small
beetles (_Hetercerus_ sp.) (25 per cent)."
_Behavior._--The least sandpiper has always been a confiding and an
unsuspicious bird, and these characteristics have increased since it has
been protected at all seasons. So diligent are they in their search for
food that they appear to take no notice of man if he remain quiet, and
they run about almost at his feet. They are fascinating birds to watch.
Not only are they gregarious, collecting in large and small flocks on
the migrations, but they are also of a sociable disposition and
associate amicably with other shore birds, large and small. They run
around among yellow legs like pigmies among giants. A mixed company of
several kinds of sandpipers and of plovers feeding together is a common
sight. In flight the different species, although in company, generally,
but not always, keep by themselves.
In the marshes--which are their preferred feeding grounds, although, as
stated above, they are sometimes found on the beaches, especially in the
spring--they scatter widely, and one may flush one bird after another,
previously unseen in the grass. They soon unite in a flock, however, and
after circling about and turning now this way, now that, with great
nicety of evolution, drop down again suddenly, often near the spot from
which they sprang. A single bird flushed generally darts off in
irregular zigzags, very much after the manner of a Wilson snipe, calling
as it goes.
In feeding in marshes they frequent the short grass and also the open
sloughs or mud holes. Here they snap up insects or probe diligently for
larvae in the mud and shallow water. They are fond of the mud and sand
flats in the tidal estuaries at low water where they appear to find
plenty of food, and they run about on the eel grass. In all these places
they spread out in an irregular fashion when feeding. Such gluttons are
they that they are generally loaded with fat on the southward migration
and they are often very fat in the spring. Notwithstanding this, their
wind seems to be excellent and their flight as swift. They are fond of
bathing like most birds, and of this Mr. Nichols writes in his notes as
follows:
It squats in shallow water, ducking the head under, throwing the
water back and fluttering the wings, and at the end of the bath
jumps an inch or two into the air with a flutter, apparently to
shake the water out of its feathers. Afterwards it usually stands
quietly and gives its plumage a thorough preening.
_Voice._--The nuptial song has been described under courtship, but the
bird has also a variety of call notes from a simple _weep_ or _peep_,
from which, doubtless, it gets its common name, to a succession of notes
more or less complicated. John T. Nichols (1920) has written at length
on the voices of shore birds, and has kindly furnished the following for
this article:
The identification flight-call is a loud diagnostic _kreep_,
distinguished by the [=e][=e] sound from any note of the
semipalmated sandpiper.... In flushing, a least sandpiper sometimes
utters a string of short unloud notes with or without the [=e][=e]
sound, _quee-quee-quee-que_ or _queque_ to be followed almost
immediately by some variation of the flight call, as it gets more
fully under way. The flight note varies down to a _che_ and _cher_,
not readily, if at all, distinguishable from similar calls of the
semipalmated sandpiper.... When a flock are up and wheeling about a
feeding spot to alight there again almost at once, they have
sometimes a confiding little note _chu chu chu chu_, etc. It has
also a whinny, a little less clearly enunciated than that of the
semipalmated but almost identical with the same.
_Field marks._--The small size of the least sandpiper distinguishes it
readily from all the other sandpipers in this country except the
semipalmated, with two exceptions to be noted later. As the least is
more frequently found on tidal flats in the estuaries and in salt
marshes, it is sometimes called the "mud peep," while the semipalmated,
which especially delights in the sand beaches is called the "sand peep."
Unfortunately this rule, although of general value, is far from
absolute, and the birds often exchange places. The least sandpiper is
more often found on the beach in the spring than in the fall. The
semipalmation is, of course, a diagnostic mark in the hand, but only
under exceptional circumstances can it be seen in the field. The color
of the tarsus, however, is distinctive and can be made out in favorable
light at a considerable distance. I have always thought it absolutely
distinctive, but the published descriptions and plates of these two
birds are often inaccurate. I have, therefore, compared the legs of both
these species, freshly collected, with Ridgway's (1912) "Color Standards
and Color Nomenclature." In the semipalmated sandpiper the tarsi of the
adults are black and this is also the case in the juvenals except that
there is a slight greenish tinge to be seen on close inspection. In the
adult least sandpiper the tarsi are distinctly yellow with a faint
greenish cast. They correspond best to the _sulphine yellow_ of Ridgway,
while the toes, which shade off a little darker, are _citrine_. In the
juvenal, there is more of a greenish tinge, and I have put the tarsi
down as _oil yellow_, the toes shading into _yellowish oil green_. In
deciding on these colors I have had the advice of an artist. The richer
brown plumage of the back and the darker streakings and wash of the
breast help to distinguish the least from the lighter and grayer
semipalmated bird, but in the fall these distinctions are less marked in
the adult. Even at this season, however, a least sandpiper on the beach
in a flock of semipalmated stands out by its browner colors, and, in the
marsh, a semipalmated in a flock of least looks very gray. The least
sandpiper is a little smaller than the other bird, but this character as
well as the color of the plumage are of slight value without the
presence of both birds for comparison.
Another point, which at times can be satisfactorily made out in the
field, is that the bill of the least sandpiper is slightly decurved,
while that of the semipalmated is straight and stouter. It has been
noted by Coues (1861) and by others independently, that the least
sandpiper is a perfect miniature of the pectoral sandpiper even to the
color of its legs. The great difference in size, however, prevents any
confusion.
Two other sandpipers, referred to above, may, however, be mistaken for
least or semipalmated sandpipers, although they are somewhat larger.
Gunners at Ipswich used to call them "bull peep." I refer to the
white-rumped and the Baird sandpipers. The white rump of the former is
diagnostic and is easily seen in flight, but is generally covered by the
wings when the birds are running on the sand. The plumage of both Baird
and white-rumped sandpipers is dark in front of the bend of the wing,
while in the semipalmated and juvenal least it is light. This is a fine
point that I have found of great value.
_Fall._--The last migrant for the north has scarcely gone before wisps
of returning sandpipers appear. The regular northward migration in
Massachusetts ceases about June 7, although an occasional nonbreeding
bird may remain, and the migrants begin to return about July 4. A
surprisingly large number of early fall migrants appeared at Ipswich on
July 3, 1911. A flock of at least 50 whirled about and alighted near me
on the marsh. One must suppose that the early migrants in the spring are
the early ones to return in the fall. They are generally all gone from
the New England coast by the end of the first week in September,
although stragglers may be found in October. They migrate both by day
and by night.
Carl Lien writes in his notes from Destruction Island, Washington, that
the least sandpiper--
Constitutes, with the western sandpiper, the great body of
migratory birds, and if the nights are a little misty the numbers
that circle around the light at night resemble a snow storm, and
they continue until daybreak when they apparently get their
bearings, and continue their journey. The spring movement begins
about the middle of April or a little later, and lasts until about
the 10th of May, beginning again the first week in July and lasting
until the middle of September.
_Game._--Fortunately this bird has been removed from the list of game by
the Federal law, and we may be sure it will never be replaced. In the
absence of larger birds--too frequently the case--the gunner used to
shoot these tiny birds in large numbers, and it must be admitted they
were delicious eating. At his blind near a slough or mud hole in the
salt marshes he would arrange his flock of tin or wooden decoys,
generally made to represent yellow-legs, within easy reach of his gun,
and he would call down with his tin whistle any passing flock. A
projecting spit of mud extending out into the little pool afforded a
convenient alighting place for the "peep," and their death trap, for
here they could conveniently be raked by gun fire from the blind. The
terrified and bewildered survivors spring into the air, and circling
about over their dead and dying companions afford several more effective
shots, which shower the victims down into the mud and water. Only a
remnant of the flock escapes, to fall victims, perhaps, to their easy
credulity at a neighboring blind. Sometimes the gunner in his greed
would wait for the birds to bunch together closely on the spit, but
before this took place to his satisfaction the alarm calls of a tattler
or yellow-legs might ring out over the marsh and every bird would spring
into the air and be off, much to his chagrin. Fortunately this
destruction has not been carried too far. The law has stepped in before
it is too late, as alas! may be the case with some of the larger shore
birds. The increase of this species since the Federal law went into
effect in 1913 is very striking. Mr. Philipp (1925) says there is "a
large increase in this dainty shore bird. In 1907 an exhaustive search
for breeding birds in the Magdalens resulted in finding 11 pairs. In
1923 in the same territory over 50 pairs were located with eggs or
young."
DISTRIBUTION
_Range._--North and South America; casual in Europe and Asia.
_Breeding Range._--The least sandpiper breeds north to Alaska (Cape
Blossom and the Kowak River); probably Yukon (Herschel Island);
Mackenzie (Peel River, Fort Anderson, Rendezvous Lake, and Franklin
Bay); southern Franklin (Cambridge Bay); Keewatin (Cape Fullerton);
Labrador (Ramah); and Newfoundland (Quarry and Gaff Topsail). East to
Labrador (Ramah, Okak, and Nain); Newfoundland (Quarry); and Nova Scotia
(Sable Island). South to Nova Scotia (Sable Island); Quebec (Magdalen
Islands); Keewatin (probably Fort Churchill); probably Saskatchewan
(Isle de la Crosse); southern Mackenzie (probably Fort Simpson);
southern Yukon (Teslin River and Lake Marsh); and southern Alaska
(probably Gustavus Bay, and probably Kodiak). West to Alaska (probably
Kodiak, Nushagak, Lake Aleknagik, and Cape Blossom).
_Winter Range._--North to California (San Francisco Bay, Owens Lake, and
Salton Sea); rarely Arizona (Mellen); Texas (Lomita and Decatur); rarely
Louisiana (Vermilion Bay); Alabama (Dauphin Island); and rarely North
Carolina (Pea Island). East to rarely North Carolina (Pea Island); South
Carolina (near Charleston); Georgia (Savannah, Darien, and St. Marys);
the Bahama Islands (Abaco, New Providence, San Salvador, Acklin, and
Great Inagua Islands); probably the Lesser Antilles (St. Christopher);
French Guiana (Cayenne); and Brazil (Para, Pernambuco, and Bahia). South
to Brazil (Bahia and Cuyaba); and Peru (Chorillos and Tumbez). West to
Peru (Tumbez); Ecuador (Santa Elena); the Galapagos Islands
(Indefatigable Island); Costa Rica (La Estrella de Cartago and
Puntarenas); Honduras (Chamelicon); Guatemala (Lake Atitlan and
Chiapam); Jalisco (Zapotlan, La Barca, and Guadalajara); Sinaloa
(Mazatlan); Lower California (San Jose del Cabo and Carmen Island); and
California (Santa Barbara and San Francisco Bay).
_Spring migration._--Early dates of arrival are: Virginia, Back Bay,
April 18; District of Columbia, Washington, April 19; Maryland,
Cambridge, May 1; Pennsylvania, Mercer County, April 18, Butler, April
27, Cataract, May 2, Erie, May 8, and Pittsburgh, May 9; New Jersey,
Cape May, April 4, Caldwell, April 7, Princeton, April 30, and Camden,
May 4; New York, Orient, April 21, New York City, April 25, Auburn,
April 29, Canandaigua, May 4, and Rochester, May 9; Connecticut,
Saybrook, May 3, and New Haven, May 8; Massachusetts, Woods Hole, April
23, Ipswich, April 24, Rehoboth, April 29, and Monomoy Island, May 6;
Vermont, St. Johnsbury, May 6; Maine, Saco, May 5; Quebec, Quebec City,
April 28, and Godbout, May 12; Nova Scotia, Halifax, April 20; Kentucky,
Bowling Green, April 23, and Lexington, May 7; Missouri, Courtenay,
April 1, Corning, April 5, and Independence, April 15; Illinois, De
Kalb, April 6, Rantoul, April 9, and Milford, April 13; Indiana,
Jeffersonville, April 5, Richmond, April 21, and Fort Wayne, April 22;
Ohio, New Bremen, April 19, Painesville, April 30, and Oberlin, May 5;
Michigan, Vicksburg, April 30, Battle Creek, May 3, and Detroit, May 4;
Ontario, Listowel, May 3, Toronto, May 4, Hamilton, May 8, and Ottawa,
May 10; Iowa, Marshalltown, April 25, Emmetsburg, April 27, and Forest
City, April 30; Wisconsin, Beloit, April 18, Whitewater, April 28, and
Madison, May 7; Minnesota, Lake Wilson, April 18, Heron Lake, April 24,
and Waseca, April 30; Kansas, McPherson, April 9, Lawrence, April 24,
and Wichita, April 28; Nebraska, Lincoln, March 21, Valentine, April 6,
and Alda, April 10; South Dakota, Huron, April 8, Vermilion, April 20,
and Pitrodie, April 22; North Dakota, Stump Lake, April 28, Jamestown,
May 1, and Grafton, May 3; Manitoba, Gimli, May 6, and Shoal Lake, May
15; Saskatchewan, Orestwynd, May 7, Indian Head, May 12, and Dinsmore,
May 14; Mackenzie, Fort Providence, May 15, Fort Simpson, May 17, and
Fort Resolution, May 19; Colorado, Durango, April 12, Loveland, April
19, and Barr, April 26; Utah, Bear River Marshes, May 10; Wyoming,
Cheyenne, April 23, and Laramie, April 23; Montana, Great Falls, April
16; Alberta, Carvel, May 6, and Flagstaff, May 9; Oregon, Narrows, April
16, Newport, April 21, and Klamath Lake, April 30; Washington, Tacoma,
April 28, and Grays Harbor, April 30; British Columbia, Comox, April 20,
Chilliwack, April 21, and Courtenay, April 22; and Alaska, Craig, May 2,
Juneau, May 4, Bethel, May 6, and Kowak River, May 15.
Late dates of spring departure are: Porto Rico, Laguna de Guanica, May
26; Cuba, Mariel, May 10, and Santiago de las Vegas, May 14; the Bahama
Islands, April 25; Florida, Punta Rassa, May 13, and St. Marks, May 28;
Alabama, Bayou Labatre, May 16; Georgia, Savannah, May 17; South
Carolina, Lady Island, May 12, and Aiken, May 14; North Carolina, Lake
Ellis, May 18, and Raleigh, May 22; Pennsylvania, Erie, May 24, and
Beaver, May 28; New Jersey, Bernardsville, May 20, Bloomfield, May 23,
and Elizabeth, May 30; New York, Pine Plains, May 30, Rochester, May 31,
and Orient, June 4; Connecticut, Norwalk, May 30, and New Haven, June 5;
Massachusetts, Dennis, June 2, Harvard, June 9, and Pittsfield, June 16;
Vermont, St. Johnsbury, June 6; New Hampshire, Manchester, June 3;
Maine, Fryeburg, May 30, and Lewiston, June 6; Kentucky, Lexington, May
23; Chicago, May 23, and Port Byron, June 15; Indiana, Greencastle, May
26, and Lake County, June 1; Ohio, Columbus, May 21, Oberlin, May 23,
and Youngstown, June 11; Michigan, Detroit, May 23, Sault Ste. Marie,
May 26, and Manchester, May 29; Ontario, Listowel, May 23, Point Pelee,
May 30, London, June 1, and Brighton, June 10; Iowa, Sioux City, May 30,
Forest City, May 31, and Keokuk, June 2; Wisconsin, Berlin, May 24,
Tomahawk, May 27, and Green Bay, June 4; Minnesota, Elk River, May 23,
and Walker, June 6; Texas, Seadrift, May 8, Ingram, May 10, and San
Angelo, May 16; Kansas, Emporia, May 15, Wichita, May 18, and Lawrence,
May 21; Nebraska, Peru, May 15, Neligh, May 16, and Badger, May 18;
South Dakota, Forestburg, May 21, Huron, May 23, and Yankton, May 25;
North Dakota, Cando, May 24, and Charlson, June 1; Manitoba, Margaret,
June 4, Reaburn, June 15, and Shoal Lake, June 20; Saskatchewan, Indian
Head, May 23, and Osler, June 19; Colorado, Fort Lyon, May 29, and Barr,
June 19; Wyoming, Cheyenne, May 27; Montana, Terry, May 21, and Great
Falls, June 3; Alberta, Flagstaff, June 1; Tepic, Las Penas Islands, May
5; Lower California, Rivera, April 21, and Gardners Lagoon, April 23;
California, Santa Barbara, May 10, Alameda, May 13, and Los Angeles, May
19; Oregon, Newport, May 20; Washington, Chelan, May 21, and Seattle,
May 31; and British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, May 19.