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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 142
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN SHORE BIRDS
ORDER LIMICOLAE (Part 1)
BY
ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
Of Taunton, Massachusetts
Ce Gk
DEC 32 1927
UNITED*STATES GOVERNMENT-PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1927
1 a hy
ay an
*f Hae fn 0 Lee s
U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM
BULLETIN 142
PLATE 1
LESSER YELLOW-LEGS
FOR DESCRIPTION SEE PAGE 360
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Bulletin 142
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN SHORE BIRDS
ORDER LIMICOLAE (Parr 1)
BY
ARTHUR CLEVELAND BENT
Of Taunton, Massachuseits
SS0enac0s0
cg bbl
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON 1927
ISSUED DEC a) {927
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 organ- izations 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 Lulletin, 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 (occasion- ally in several volumes), faunal works, reports of expeditions, cata- logues 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 Herbariwm, 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. 142 of the Bulletin series.
ALEXANDER WETMORE, Assistant Secretary, Smithsonian Institution.
Wasuineton, D. C., Vovember 15, 1927. Il
TABLE OF CONTENTS
a Page
Wrdeme Un COls ee eer eee he eS eee ee eer See Ce 1 Wuniivr walaronwodidee <0 Tee ee a ee 1 Pal aropuss Auli Carters bt ees ee pi ae 1 Sco a Ty teal ATO Pees wee ke ee ee ee a ee eee 1 SEP UGS Per se ee Leh Bl a a ees 2 ne Pk ew Rien bo Ec 1 DMistripuplon ec = ee 2 oe ke eer one ie eed pe wt eed WE 14
BEC LOT FESO LSAT A SS ee eee ae ee ee ee be ae 15 NORTE LE TEAM PNT E70 J) Ce hs a ee 8 ee ee Ae 15 EWE 1 ss eee ee oles iar he SS ae ae Cee 15 Distribublomy = ae se ee ee ae eB eee, ehh 8 26 SLESATIO MUS CLICOlO Tyee a es ee ea Se a Ae lap pet eta 28 SUV TSO TTe OT eNO Ys eee a a a eae 28 SEVEN Py Uti sameeren Seven techie ee ane ee I ce era eo A eo pce 28
MD ISEEUD GUO THe es eA ea 2 an a LI re Ee ee 35 RamiiliyeRecurvinostridaee.s 22) 0 ie bee re Aertel ork Recurvirostray americams 0 2 2 ee aS bese sue eee lei Be 37 (ATM CLICATMNAVOCRb = eens 2 a ae ee elle pry he PAY 37 DED By Sys eee ent Aa eds et Rs te ES te se ee eT 37
TS HaT a LOM eae a eS a ee 44 Ehimantopuswmexicanus. 22 Seka hale Male eis Pte eae eye 47 SA CReNCCKOG SUE es am pee ee ee ee eee mene oy ie Sere ieee AT NEW a IES cee ee pe 2 ee a ea Sh Be 47 AEDES Cored Do ute oa pe ce uh and oe 53 Wamily7. Scolopacide ca: =e ee Se ase) ee ee Thi ge pane 2 54 SCcOLOpaeruUsiiCol a= = sense Ae a ee ie eat Be 54 HGLODCANC WiOOU COCK Ee mrs a ea es ap D4 EVA pits ieee ee pee Peo Se se i etd tow deie tk 54 DISHEUD UG OM ase a A a ard eaten Cte oh A 60 TeUDICOlA MINOR ese eek et heed Bille ee Y 61 FASMETI CAT WOUGCOCKis0 tie. a0 a uw Ai a be ee Ea eee 61 PTSD ELE eos ees Sree ee Fe pie Wee 61 IDISEIDUtlLoMe yee ee a Teer tO % Capella; callinagorgallinapo, 9 8 a oe 78 TOULOP CATS SIT perc erates ee ee ee ee a A 78 SEEN Sa iE Sec a Se ae Sea had ah ees ced eg td Yonge 8 78 Distribution saat eS ee tenth ooh 81 Capellaycallinago: delicats = 2 20 wae beatin py aie a eee) 81 ISOM SR 8 S22 Se re 81 EL DAES ee oe ee a ee oes dead Aira tT 81
IDE StributlOn! -—— on See ee a abide alee 94 Wanellagmiediay. = oe eet a, a eitin ces ep heee 98 Cor Cape SUT) Ges es nian e te my ieee ace aE DE $8 TESTA Ui Se ee Set A i pet hy Es 98 PUSH Duh Ons se ek OR As sh a ve ads eT 101 ISyIUNOCEVPLeSeIMInIMUS see ee ee es ee ee 101
IV TABLE OF CONTENTS
Order Limicolae—Continued.
Family Scolopacidae—Continued. Page Ui NK SYD pee Rae Ie A ae a RINE 101 TTS PDE 9 eR Tol UO A a ALN 8 i101
ES GU at Ora ae a gL Se NM 105 HAMNOATOMUSZSTISSUS NATSU Se aes so NT AI se Ue 106 AS LOTTA Oi CH a eG ee eI as oes MIST AE 106 FDRG he Fe EN CNG rch eV ce STN Waa SE A SC RL Ee aE He 106 DES Ga BBD ate Wa oa UE a eS CEE 113 imnodromus griseus scolopaceusi 2. eee 115 TON = LVS Owl cl Oe a eS BS 115 SV Sa BT a Bh at Te OE SEL 115
SUSU Ste bo a bye Te a ge RS 121 Micropalama himantopus2 2222 ee eae 122 SS eis eva Gh pea 2 a gE A TM 81) 122 ER UD HS aH LS AEE 122 Distributionse.224 2 eee ok pO NE ih os 129
SiN LNA ea ra Ut US ES a ls oy me 131 PASTA OTT CEUTA NTN On SE i EA NR NOT 131 SFM RTO TTS hs oh Ag up RS PS” 131
EUS trey Ta ra a Se ag IE 143 GAGES EST WELT OSS TS es OE SLE 145 ASCOT TGA SLA ti Cam O Gs sels Re pags RES SPEER 145 ANT GUT ea ts OTN Shs ry a TH a yp TR ES SSS 146 SAUER A HN ROSE SS 146 SR eB Se igh ets CE OPN eR IR LE 146
DD ES GET UU a eS AE Seg LN a ee PH 151 Arquatella ptilocnemis, piilocnemis22 222 Sune eee ea eee 152 CUPL os Sex ra go Byers ge Eo dL I ee aged 152 SEV ep TEES et A MRR AREAS 152 MLS GY bea Ora es IR 158 Arquatella) ptiloenemis)couest eae Ee ee eae 159 Aleutian sand piper = ees hoe ae ee NN aE aa eae ee sea 159 Reith Ee ee EE AL eS Re SE ha HiT I Re ae SRE 159
EVES Car TT MEG Ta LP at en Re 166 PASO DU ei Cama a eg a a a eet 167 Sharp-tailedi sama pipers ss 2k eS ee es ae ee eee 167 FLAW UGS oe ese, ae ate a) eg ee RAI 167
OES GET at Ma ae a aS oe a eg a 169 PisobiswMaculataes 2 Be OLN Le LEN os 22 MEA Se ea eee ee Ege 169 Pectoral, sand piper: bs ea aT Ue RD hs Ae lA 2 169 VST Sec ace he a lL a 169
PP ISGLUD UE OM So oe ey Es ig ya 177 PiSODIAyGEUSCLCO LIS He ee Se Se a ens Reg ese 181 Wihite-rumped\sand piper. 222420 2) 2 Bee We ERE Ss eS 181 FR eR esse 25 a Paar ld 181
BD TS Cre TP UU EET os a 191 PiSOD Tawi ys ea oh a a Pe, Ue 2 193 Bain jsaim ol pippery 2 Ss 5 ih EE ERE Ie 193 Ra Dit: oleae se vs es a ey es ee oe De 193
ESE TUT Ute rn ce a oc a ae ee 22 199
Pisobia minutilla
TABLE OF CONTENTS vV
Order Limicolae—Continued.
Family Scolopacidae—Continued. Page ANE ES62 SS Cee SEAN CL Do OT a5 a A a Et yt 202 SPV eh itis eee pe ce ee ER SS ed 5 ed eee tN 202 OTS ELA Ores tke ee ge Oe ee 209 PAsoplaysupmMInUta ss oe ee es Serer eee OR 213 WOng-toedsshintes a6 oe eee A See el J ee Bae 3 ht 213 DEL G5 See ee el ee an 213
OUD TSS Gers PTL ree se Eee tS 214 SODA ATU COUT SEs siete 2 2 ae ae Ce 2 Sen teat 2 215 RiEOUSsNECKEOs SANG pipers 220k eee Saye Se, TO Pets ae 0) yas cS 215 Lait See es ee ee a ee Be eR Ne re TN el 215 BEDS Geta CR ae ot a ae a ee Ea 2 a a 217 Relidnagalpina alpina. 22 25 S28 ee ee eA es eA ee 217 AUG era Dra ee ee Ee a Sd a eas At ea 217 PET SUD TES ek 5 Fad en Cian i oe 2 ead. el AE Levee bene i 217 DISET Ul Or yee ee ae ee age 220 Reldnasalpinapsakhalina 2222 ee ee eit 221 Red-packed! Sandpiper = os 2s ss a nD ewe 221 ETD UGS eee A SS Oe eer RS 221 DASE TDG 1 tee ac Oc ae Ns a oe ae a WV 2O FOVOMAR TERT US IME A a2 es ee aE he oe cates bony PORES SS 232 Curlewasand piper: 2 6s se ee eS es ie arts 232 EV DGS eee ee ate ee See eel ain ed a 232
BRED ESS GUSH Ua GL Cor eo eae ta eA a re ee aes ee 236 MULVHOLMNYNCHUS) DYESMNECUS 2555 Ne 2 ee 237 SDOOMED IPS AI UD OTe He yee Se gE al 237 BERR DS eer eee Yee ee SS SI) Boe eke 2k DIS Geet eG Orne ee A i ee eS 243 IRCUNCECS DUS Spee evs tena eee 2 Ee es oe ee 244 Nelnipalmated@sand piper ss. 2. 0 kc to eee Me ee 244 La DiS eee ee ae Se Td Ee eee 244 DTS Gre by cated Or eee owes ed eeu Be AE ale AS EE 252 FOTO UTE LES tae T0 UTD aes le Ne ag ot 255 Western sand plper=aes sok Sk ee ee oe a 255 DET EU Sse tee eens Aa EN at SA AT Ee, 255
DES Cre GE Oa ee eee ia Ne EN Ly a ae Te 263 @rocechiawal bas same nae se eae et) ee ee 265 SSP ELL eCity bens eae Hanes a ee ef Ln of ol ieee RR a 265 SET AUB LG Spee eee Ee ps eS Bb hae beet 2 ed 265
SUD) ES ETD Cah ON eae Sr Le a aN a Na a 274 AN OSE el CC Opes eee eee we OE BU ee ea Se ee Ok VESSEL eG OCaml ee a Pe ee se 277 TEED a Ti sp Mata ee ee Ne 2 DES Gry GRO Tae se LA ne Th Be 287 himosamlay Poni Cay DAUCTIA == sek we ee Sl ee eee 289 ACU CHE 0 Cipva ieee =e eS al 289 ELS pit gear ee = ses ee eae eee a ee 2s es ct ee dis 289 DSi DULL OM eaten eet mer eine oe Die He I, Ua WS 294 IIMGRA AEM ASG Came mes nee a a Le ee 295 RELCORIRI LITE POG WAGE ee ete ee ee La ee 295 BGT ys RR ied Eee ANS SN aes Oe ee ne eR eT 295
VI TABLE OF CONTENTS
Order Limicolae—Continued. Family Scolopacidae—Continued.
Mimosa limosa simosass 322 sa oS Se ere eee ee Black-tailed: cod wit 2223 eee Vani tig) a eee eg i DLS tered bo eat Ho ws ee a a eed pe we ae GlOttis nel ular ae ee er Gere@eeny ss Tn egret TERED PDT sa Tae a a as EE ae ES SAE NO AS Ene Bo aT ra a a a a a a ec a FRSC ERTL US OTST a ee Ee EE eee aE TERN Sa TK ee ee NETS TRUE ts PA a op MUS tre Ua te ye NR REN RL EEN ONE Mofamus! smelanole meus eye ae ee eae Greateriiivel low -Tegs aoe a eee B TAD gE AN ea a Bl ee DTS EMP UU EL Om cs sk ear a ae ea FESO tUTA US} ALE VPC se NS ENS ee TOSSETA wVeC LOW ale So ee a ae ee RSD iti ea eee Bes Tg he ieee Senne ee DD UStrib wha en ee References; toy Dib 1 Os rrepa ya a a a re ce Mixplanationeo tpl ates eee ee a ee eee ae TUT OU he PL SN ye eS RE RR ERE Se
INTRODUCTION
This is the seventh 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. 118. 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, “1926.”
(=March 11, 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 indi- cate the usual movements of the species; no attempt has been made to give all records, for economy in space, and no pretense at com- plete 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 only in enough detail to enable the reader to trace the sequence of molts and plumages from birth to
Vil
VIII INTRODUCTION
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 man- uals. 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 Nomen- clature of Colors (1886 edition). The heavy-faced type in the measurements of eggs indicates 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 W. B. Alexander, Clark Blickensderfer, C. E. Chapman, Kar] Christofferson, C. W. Colthrup, Walter Colvin, W. M. Congreve, Joseph Dixon, J. G. Gordon, S. A. Grimes, W. C. Herman, Frank Howland, W. I. Lyon, T. R. Miley, D. J. Nicholson, R. H. Rauch, Russell Richardson, jr.. W. A. Smith, J. D. Soper, E. S. Thomas, M. B. Trautman, C. F. Walker, F. M. Weston, H. F. Witherby, A. H. Wood, jr., and C. J. Young.
Receipt of material from over 250 contributors has been acknowl- edged in previous volumes.
Through the courtesy of the Biological Survey, the services of Frederick ©. Lincoln were secured to compile the distribution para- graphs. 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. The few minor changes made in the system do not materially alter the general plan.
Dr. Charles W. Townsend has written the life histories of two species and the Rev. Francis C. R. Jourdain, a well-known British authority, has contributed the life histories and the distributions of six Old World species, which are known to us only as rare stragglers. Mr. J. H. Riley has furnished descriptions and measurements of some rare eggs in the National Museum. We are indebted to Mr. H. F. Witherby for the loan of the valuable photographs of the knot, taken by Admiral Peary, which the author publishes at his own risk, without permission.
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
INTRODUCTION Ix
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 March, 1927. 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 gallinaceous birds should be sent to
Tue AvTHor.
LIFE HISTORIES OF NORTH AMERICAN SHORE BIRDS ORDER LIMICOLAE (PART 1)
By ArrHour CLEVELAND BENT Of Taunton, Massachusetts
Family PHALAROPODIDAH, Phalaropes
PHALAROPUS FULICARIUS (Linnaeus) RED PHALAROPE
HABITS
The female red phalarope in her full nuptial plumage is, to my mind, the handsomest, certainly the most richly colored, of the three known species of phalaropes. The species is cosmopolitan, with a circumpolar breeding range; it is apparently homogeneous through- out its wide range except for a local race, breeding in Spitsbergen, which has been separated and named Phalaropus fulicarius jour- daini Iredale; this race is said to have paler edgings on the back, scapulars, and tertials. The species is commonly known abroad as the grey phalarope, an appropriate name for the bird in its winter plumage, in which it is most often seen. :
It is less often seen in the United States than the other two species; its summer home is so far north that it is beyond the reach of most of us; and at other seasons it is much more pelagic than the other species, migrating and apparently spending the winter far out on the open sea, often a hundred miles or more from Jand. It seldom comes ashore on the mainland except when driven in by thick weather or a severe storm. Hence it is an apparently rare bird to most of us. But in its arctic summer home it is exceedingly abundant. Alfred M. Bailey (1925) says that “this was the most abundant of the shore birds at Wales, as at Wainwright, Alaska. As a person walks over the tundra there is a continual string of those handsome birds rising from the grass.” Again he writes:
At Whalen, near East Cape, Siberia, we saw thousands of these beautiful little fellows on July 11. The day was very disagreeable, with a strong
1
2 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
wind off the ice and a drizzling rain. From the ship we could see waves of birds rising some distance off in such dense flocks that individuals could not be distinguished; the mass looked like a long, thin cloud swirling before the wind; one end of the line rose high in the air, while the other end swerved nearer to the water. They swung about with the erratic movements and wave- like flight so characteristic of black skimmers, now high in the air, again low over the water. As we worked along the shore, thousands that were feeding Close along the beach rose and flew across the sand spit in front of us. There was a continual stream of them drifting by, like so much sand before a strong wind. They were, at this time, beginning to molt their breeding plumage.
Spring—The migrations of the red phalarope are mainly at sea, usually far out from land. During the month of May enormous flocks may be seen on the ocean off the coasts of New England, but it is only during stress of weather that they are driven inshore. I can well remember a big storm, on May 21, 1892, which brought a large flicht of these birds into Cape Cod Bay; Nat Gould killed a large number that day on Monomoy Island and I shot one at Plymouth Beach; others were taken at Provincetown. In pleasant weather these birds are well at home on the heaving bosom of the ocean, flying about in flocks, twisting, turning, and wheeling like flocks of sandpipers, or resting or feeding on the drifting rafts of seaweeds. On the Pacific coast these birds are even more abundant, if one goes far enough offshore to see them during April and May. They often congregate in considerable numbers about the Farallon Islands. W. Leon Dawson (1923) has drawn a graphic picture of them there, as follows:
Here in late spring thousands of these birds ride at anchor in the lee of the main island, along with other thousands of the other northern species, Lobipes lobatus. Of these some few scores are driven ashore by hunger and seek their sustenance in brackish pools, or else battle with the breakers in the little “bight” of the rocky lee shore. The date is May 23, and the com- pany under survey numbers a few brilliant red birds in high plumage among the scores in unchanged gray, together with others exhibiting every inter- mediate gradation. When to this variety is added a similar diversity among the northerns, which mingle indiscriminately with them, you have a motley company—no two birds alike. Ho! but these are agile surfmen! Never, save in the case of the wandering tattler and the American dipper, have I seen such absolute disregard of danger and such instant adjustment to watery circumstance. Here are 30 of these phalaropes “fine mixed,” threading a nar- row passage in the reefs where danger threatens in the minutest fraction of a second. Crash! comes a comber. Our little world is obliterated in foam. Sea anemones and rock oysters sputter and choke, and there is a fine fury of readjustment. But the phalaropes rise automatically, clear the crest of the crasher, and are down again, preening their feathers or snatching dainties with the utmost unconcern. Now a bird is left stranded on a reef, or now he is whisked and whirled a dozen feet away. All right, if he likes it; but if not, he is back again, automatically, at the old rendezvous. Life goes on right merrily in spite of these shocking interruptions. Food getting is the
RED PHALAROPE 3
main business, and this is pursued with extraordinary ardor. The bird’s tiny feet kick the water violently, and there is the tiniest compensatory bob for every stroke, so that their little bodies Seem all a tremble. There seems to be no difference of opinion between the two species, but there is time for a good deal of amatory play between the sexes of the reds. It is always the bright-colored female who makes the advances, for the wanton phalaropes have revised nature’s order, and the modest male either seeks escape by flight, or else defends himself with determined dabs. Here is the authentic lady for whom Shakespeare's ‘“ pilgrim” sighed.
Of their arrival on their breeding grounds in northern Alaska, KE. W. Nelson (1887) writes:
It is much more gregarious than its relative, and for a week or two after its first arrival 50 or more flock together. ‘These flocks were very numerous the 1st of June, 1879, at the Yukon mouth, where I had an excellent oppor- tunity to observe them. In the morning the birds which were paired could be found scattered here and there, by twos, over the slightly flooded grassy flats. At times these pairs would rise and fly a short distance, the female, easily known by her bright colors and larger size, in advance, and uttering now and then a low and musical “clink, clink,’ sounding very much like the noise made by lightly tapping together two small bars of steel. When dis- turbed these notes were repeated oftener and became harder and louder. A little later in the day, as their hunger became satisfied, they began to unite into parties until 15 or 20 birds would rise and pursue an erratic course over the flat. As they passed swiftly along stray individuals and pairs might be seen to spring up and join the flock. Other flocks would rise and the smaller coalesce with the larger until from two hundred to three or even four hundred birds were gathered in a single flock. As the size of the flock increased its movements became more and more irregular. At one moment they would glide straight along the ground, then change to a wayward flight, back and forth, twisting about with such rapidity that it was difficult to follow them with the eye. Suddenly their course would change, and the compact flock, as if ani- mated by a single impulse, would rise high over head, and, after a series of graceful and swift evolutions, come sweeping down with a loud, rushing sound to resume their playful course near the ground. During all their motions the entire flock moves in such unison that the alternate flashing of the underside of their wings and the dark color of the back, like the play of light and shade, makes a beautiful spectacle. When wearied of their sport the flock disbands and the birds again resume their feeding.
Courtship —The well-known reversal of sexual characters in the phalaropes makes their courtship particularly interesting, as the large, handsome females press their ardent suits against the timid and dull-colored little males. A. L. V. Manniche (1910) has given us the best account of it, as follows:
June 19, 1907, early in the morning, I had the pleasure of watching for hours the actions of a loving couple of phalaropes on the beach of a pool sur- rounded by large sedge tufts, covered with long, withered grass. This act I found very funny, peculiar, and charming. When the male had been eagerly searching for food for some 20 minutes, often standing on his head in the water, like a duck, to fish or pick up something from the bottom, he would lie down on a tuft, stretching out his one leg and his one wing as if he would fully enjoy the rest after his exertions. The female for some moments was
4 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
lying quietly and mutely in the middle of the pool; suddenly she began with increasing rapidity to whirl around on the surface of the water, always in the same little circle, the diameter of which was some 10 centimeters. As the male seemed to pay no attention to her alluring movements, she flew rapidly up to him—producing as she left the water a peculiar whirling sound with her wings and uttering short angry cries—pushed him with her bill, and then she returned to the water and took up her swimming dance. Now the male came out to her, and the two birds whirled around for some moments equally eager and with increasing rapidity. Uttering a short call, the female again flew to a tuft surrounded by water and waited some seconds in vain for the male; again she flew to the water to induce him with eager pushes and thumps to accompany her. They again whirled violently around, whereafter she, uttering a strong, alluring sound, flew back to the tuft, this time accompanied by the male—and the pairing immediately took place. In the matrimony of the grey phalarope the female only decides. She exceeds the male in size and brilliancy of plumage and has the decisive power in all family affairs. If she wants to shift her place of residence she flies up swift as an arrow with a commanding cry—which may be expressed as “ pitiss’”—and if the male does not follow her at once she will immediately return and give him a severe punishment, which never fails to have the desired effect. It is a well- known fact that she completely ignores her eggs and young ones.
Nesting—The same author describes the nesting habits of this species, in northeast Greenland, as follows:
It is peculiar, that the male has well-marked breeding spots before the breeding begins and certainly before the femaie has laid her first egg; but this fact has been proved by several solid examinations. June 26, 1907, I observed on the beach of the Bjergandeso in the Stormkap district, that the nest build- ing was executed by the male. He was busy in building the nest on a low bank covered with short grass, while she paid no attention to his labor, but swam around the beach searching food. The male shaped a nest hollow by turning round his body against the ground on the place selected, having first by aid of the feet scraped away and trampled down the longest and most troublesome straws. He diligently used feet and bill at the same time to arrange the shorter fine straws, which are carefully bent into the nest hollow and form the lining of this. The nest was much smaller than that of Tringa alpina and contained one egg the next day. Along the beaches of a smaller lake not far from the ship’s harbor I saw, June 30, three solitary swimming males, at least one of which showed signs of having a nest. I soon found this close to the place of residence of the male in question. The nest contained four fresh eggs and was built in exactly the same way as the before-mentioned nest. The male proved so far from being shy, that he could be driven to his nest and merely be caught by hand; having laid himself upon the nest he was still more fearless.
A breeding phalarope will lie motionless with his head pressed deep down against his back. He is almost fully covered by straws, which surround the nest, as he with the bill bends these over himself, besides he is so similar to the surroundings that no human eye is able to distinguish him from these, if the spot is not known beforehand.
July 9, 1907, I again found a phalarope’s nest by the Bjergandeso; it con- tained four fresh eggs and was built a little differently from the two before- mentioned nests. These were found close to a lake on low banks covered with short grass, but this one was built on a tuft covered with long, withered grass,
RED PHALAROPE 5
situated some 10 meters from the real lake, but surrounded by shallow water, that came from a litile river running out from the lake and irrigating all the tufts, one of which contained the nest. This bird also kept very close on the nest, and did not leave it before I parted the long grass with my foot. When frightened up from the nest the bird for a short while lay screaming and flap- ping on the water not far from me; thereupon he flew away, Silently and rapidly, to land on the opposite side of the lake. Having been absent for some five minutes he returned just as rapidly, few a good way to the other side of the nest, sat down, and kept quiet for a couple of minutes, whereafter he again flew up and took the earth some 20 meters from the nest, which he then rap- idly approached walking and swimming hidden by aquatic plants and tufts. All this was done in order to mislead me, who was lying some 15 meters from the nest without any shelter and therefore seen by the bird all the while.
C. W. G. Eifrig (1905) found the red phalarope breeding very commonly around Cape Fullerton and Southampton Island, Hudson Bay. “They nest around fresh water ponds, laying their eggs, with- out nesting material, in depressions in the sand or moss, often in lichens.” John Murdoch (1885), on the other hand, says, at Point Barrow, Alaska, that—
The nest is always in the grass, never in the black or mossy portions of the tundra, and usually in a pretty wet situation, though a nest was occasionally found high and dry, in a place where the nest of the pectoral sandpiper would be looked for. A favorite nesting site was a narrow grassy isthmus between two of the shallow ponds. The nest is a very slight affair of dried grass and always well concealed.
In the Kotzebue Sound region Joseph Grinnell (1900) found three nests, of which he says:
The nests were all on higher ground and at a distance of 100 yards or more from the lagoons where the birds usually congregated for feeding and social purposes. The three nests agreed in situation, being rather deep depressions sunk into the tops of mossy hummocks. There was a thin lining of dry grasses, and in one case the drooping blades from an adjoining clumb of grass partially concealed the nest from view from above.
Miss Maud D. Haviland (1915) relates her experience with the nesting habits of this species, at the mouth of the Yenesei River, Siberia, as follows:
I found the first nest on Golchika Island early in July. My attention was called to it by the male bird, which flew round uneasily. Even when the nest- ing ground is invaded, this phalarope is very quiet and not very demonstrative. He flits round the intruder with a peculiar silent flight, rather like a big red moth, while he utters his chirruping alarm note—‘“zhit zhit.’”’ This call is shril- ler than that of Phalaropus lobatus, and quite recognizable where the two species breed side by side. I sat down on a log of driftwood, and in about half an hour was able to flush the bird from four fresh eggs. This nest, however, was not placed very well for photography, for about 50 yards away was a turf hut, which a Russian family had just taken possession of for the summer, and I dared not leave the hiding tent or apparatus near the spot. On the following day I was more fortunate, and found a nest which was also on the island but about half a verst away. It was in rather a dryer situation than
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the last, but like all the nests of this species that I saw, the eggs lay on quite a substantial platform of dead grass. In other cases the sites were so wet that the bird must have been sitting actually in water—and the photographer would have had to do likewise! In the photograph, the grass has been parted in order to show the eggs, but before this was done they were screened as care- fully as the eggs of a redshank or reeve.
I pitched the tent at once, and went in to hide. The male phalarope stood on a tussock about 20 yards away and watched attentively, I should not thus have tackled the nest of any other wader, but I relied upon the confidence and simplicity of the phalarope, and I did not rely upon them in vain. In about 20 minutes I caught sight of the bird creeping round the tent, and a few minutes later he settled down upon the eggs. In this, my first glimpse of a grey phalarope at close quarters, two points struck me forcibly. One was the apparent extraordinary length of the bird. The single pair of legs in the middle seemed quite insufficient to support so long a body, and with his quaint perky gait, it seemed as if the bird swayed to and fro upon cee springs as he walked. The other was the peculiar harmony of the color of the mantle with the grass around, bleached or blackened by snow and thaw. The long, bladelike form of the secondary feathers, and the buff longitudinal shoulder bands seemed to emphasize the scheme until the bird was almost indistinguishable from his surroundings.
Herbert W. Brandt in his manuscript notes says:
The nest of the red phalarope is built either on dry ground or over shallow grass-grown water and is well concealed. Leading away from it usually are one or more runways which are either tunneled or open. The nest is fragile and very loosely made. The interior is moulded into a cup shape and the structure is made of grasses and often lined with moss stems, small leaves of the dwarf birch, cranberry, and other small, crisp ieaves found there. Frequently, however, a simple depression in the moss or grass suffices to serve for the nursery. The range of measurements of 18 nests is: Height 3 to 5 inches; inside diameter 2144 to 3% inches; depth of cavity, 21%4 to 3 inches; but the nest is sometimes built up higher and is more substantial if placed directly over water. In fact, this little coot-footed bird sometimes builds a miniature cootlike nest. The male alone was noted building the nest, and he usually incubates, but on two occasions the female was observed on the eggs. The incubating bird is not a close sitter and departs from the nest long before the intruder arrives. In that jaeger-haunted land when the male phalarope returns to the nest he weaves so stealthily through the grass that it is almost impossible to follow his devious course so that two or three rapid charges are necessary by the watcher toward the supposed location of the nest before the incubating bird can finally be forced to rise directly from its eggs.
Eggs.—The red phalarope ordinarily lays four eggs, though three sometimes constitute a full set, and as many as six have been found in a nest, probably laid by two birds. They vary in shape from ovate pyriform to subpyriform and have a slight gloss. The pre- vailing ground colors range from “pale olive buff” to “dark olive buff”; in the darker sets they vary from “ecru olive” to “ Isabella color”; in a few sets there is a greenish tinge approaching “ light brownish olive”. The markings are bold, sharply defined and irreg-
RED PHALAROPE 7
ular in shape; they are most numerous and often confluent at the larger end; but some eggs are finely speckled over the entire surface. The prevailing colors of the markings are dark browns, from “ warm sepia” or “ Vandyke brown” to “bone brown” or “clove brown.” Some eggs are marked with lighter or brighter browns, “ hazel,” “russet,” or even “tawny.” The drab under markings are hardly noticeable. The measurements of 148 eggs in the United States Na- tional Museum average 31.5 by 22 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 35 by 22, 32 by 23 and 27.5 by 20.5 millimeters,
Young.—Authorities differ as to the period of incubation, which does not seem to have been definitely determined by anyone. Mr. Conover writes to me that “a nest located June 10, with three eggs, hatched on June 29.” Incubation is performed almost wholly by the male, but Mr. Brandt (mss.) says: “The female, however, is, of course, the dominant member of the household, but she occasion- ally shares the cares of incubation, as I proved by collecting one from the nest; while later in the year I was successful in photo- graphing a mother with a single chick. Perhaps it was a favorite child which she was taking for a walk while the father was mother- ing the rest of the family.” Most observers agree that the male assumes full care of the young also; but Miss Haviland (1915) says: “It seems as if both male and female unite to care for the young, and when the breeding ground is approached they fly around and call anxiously.” Probably the gaily dressed female is a poor mother at best and prefers to join the large flocks of her sex on the tundra pools.
Plumages——The downy young red phalarope is the handsomest of its group, darker and more richly colored, as well as larger than the young northern phalarope. The upper parts show various shades of deep, warm brownish buff, darkest, “ Sudan brown,” on the crown, paling to “raw sienna,” on the sides of the head, occiput, neck, thighs, and rump, and to “yellow ocher” on the rest of the upper parts; these colors shade off into “antimony yellow” or “warm buff” on the throat and breast and to buffy white on the belly ; the down of the upper parts is tipped with black, except on the yellow ocher parts, and is basally dusky. It is boldly marked above with clear, velvety black; there is a large black patch back of the central crown patch of brown and a diminishing black stripe on each side of it; a narrow black stripe runs from the hill, over the eye, to the auriculars; another runs across the hind neck; a broad, but more or less broken and irregular, black stripe extends down the center of the back and a similar stripe down each side of it; there is also
a large well-defined black patch on each side of the rump, above the thigh.
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In fresh juvenal plumage, in August, the feathers of the crown, mantle, and scapulars are black, broadly edged with “ochraceous tawny ”; the tertials, median wing coverts, upper tail coverts, and tail feathers are narrowly edged with paler shades of buff; the lesser wing coverts are narrowly edged with white; the forehead, lores, neck all around, upper breast, and flanks are suffused with grayish brown, varying from “ fawn color” or “ wood brown,” on the throat, neck, and breast, to “vinaceous buff” on the head and flanks; the rest of the under parts are pure white. The sexes are alike in juvenal and winter plumages.
The tawny edgings of the upper plumage soon fade and wear away before the postjuvenal molt begins during August. I have seen birds in full juvenal plumage as late as September 15; the molt is usually not completed until late in October, but I have seen it well advanced by the middle of August. This molt includes nearly all of the contour plumage, but not the wings and tail, so that first- winter birds can be distinguished from adults by the juvenal wing coverts and tail.
. The first prenuptial molt occurs mainly in April and May; it is sometimes completed by the last week in May, but more often not until early June; T have seen the full first-winter plumage retained until May 21. This molt invelves the entire contour plumage, some wing coverts, and the tail; so that young birds in first nuptial plum- age closely resemble adults and can be distinguished only by the pres- ence of some old juvenal wing coverts. The sexes are quite unlike in this plumage and are probably ready to breed. Certain females, in which the black crown and white cheek patches are obscured with buff and rufous tints, but are otherwise in full plumage, are perhaps young birds.
At the following molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter plumage is acquired, characterized by the bluish-gray mantle and the white under parts. This molt is complete; it begins in July and is sometimes completed in August, but more often it is prolonged into September or later. Adults have a partial molt in the spring, from March to May, involving the contour feathers, the tail, some of the tertials, and some of the wing coverts; the remiges are not molted, and some of the old scapulars are retained. The adult postnuptial molt, from July to December, is complete.
Food.—During the month or so that they are on their northern breeding grounds the red phalaropes are shore birds, feeding in the tundra pools or along the shores, but during the rest of the year they are essentially sea birds, feeding on or about the floating masses of kelp or seaweeds, or following the whales or schools of large fish; hence they are aptly called “sea geese,” “ whale birds,” or “ bowhead birds.” They occasionally come in to brackish pools near the shore
RED PHALAROPE 9
or rarely are seen on the sandy beaches or mud flats feeding with other shore birds. Outlying rocky islands are often favorite feeding places. Ludwig Kumlien (1879) writes:
Whalemen always watch these birds while they are wheeling around high in the air in graceful and rapid circles, for they know that as soon as they sight a whale blowing they start for him, and from their elevated position they can, of course, discern one at a much greater distance than the men in the boat. I doubt if it be altogether the marine animals brought to the surface by the whale that they are after, for if the whale remains above the surface any length of time they always settle on his back and hunt parasites. One specimen was brought me by an Eskimo that he had killed on the back of an Orca gladiator; the esophagus was fairly crammed with Laernodipodian cru3- taceans, still alive, although the bird had been killed some hours; they looked to me like Caprella phasma and Cyamus ceti. According to the Eskimo who killed it, the birds were picking something from the whale’s back. I have often seen them dart down among a school of Delphinapterous leucas and fol- low them as far as I could see. On one occasion a pair suddenly alighted astern of my boat and were not 3 feet from me at times; they followed directly in the wake of the boat, and seemed so intent on picking up food that they paid no attention whatever to us. They had probably mistaken the boat for a whale.
In northeastern Greenland, Manniche (1910) saw them hunt flying insects on land; he also says:
Some 20 analyses of stomachs proved that the phalaropes in the breeding season chiefly feed on small insects, principally gnats and larvae of these. The esophagus and stomachs of several birds killed were filled with larvae of gnats, which in vast multitudes live in the fresh-water ponds. In a few stomachs I also found fine indeterminable remnants of plants (Algae?).
W. Leon Dawson (1923) describes their feeding habits at the Farallones, as follows:
Three red phalaropes, al! female I take it, although none of them in highest plumage, and one northern, also a female, just under “high,” are pasturing at my feet in a brackish pool some 20 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 2 feet deep. The waters of the pool teem with a minute reddish crustacean (7?) shaped like an ant, less than a thirty-second of an inch in length and incredibly nimble. The insects progress by leaps, and are visible only at the moment of arrival. Yet these birds gobble them up one at a time with unerring accuracy and with a rapidity which is nothing short of marvelous. The reds work habitually at the rate of five dabs per second, i. e., 300 a minute, while the northern, with a longer beak and a much daintier motion, works only half as fast.
The following observation was made on a California beach by Roland C. Ross (1922) :
Kelp flies seemed to satisfy its sporting instincts and hunger, and the bird stalked them slowly and pointedly one by one. With bill and neck outstretched and lowered in line with a fly on the sand, a slow advance was made until with a pounce the hunt closed. If the fy escaped, the phalarope sometimes ran after it, bill out. Another pose interested me. On finding a kelp mass decaying and drawing flies, the phalarope approached closely and so low that his breast touched the ground, but the rear of the bird was high up. At times
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he would remain with breast down and pick at the flies much as a dusting fowl picks up a stray grain. Mr. L. E. Wyman reported similar “ breast to ground” actions of two phalaropes he saw feeding by a kelp mass on the beach.
Alexander Wetmore (1925), in his report on the food of the red phalarope, analyzed the contents of 36 stomachs, mainly from the Pribilof Islands, with some from New York and Maine; they were collected from May to November, but mainly in August. Crusta- ceans made up 33.5 per cent of the food; beetles amounted to 27.3 per cent; flies formed 22.7 per cent; and 6.8 per cent consisted of tiny fishes, mostly sculpins. The food of this species therefore shows it to be harmless or neutral.
Behavior—Phalaropes are active, lively birds in all their move- ments and they seem to be constantly on the move. They are all rapid fliers and this species is decidedly the swiftest on the wing of all three. As the restless flocks move about over the water, their aerial evolutions are well worth watching. Lucien M. Turner, in his Labrador notes, writes that he has seen them “ascend to a great height in increasing circles, darting in and out among each other and making a peculiar twitter as they ascend. When some suitable locality is discerned these birds descend almost perpendicularly and drop on the water as softly as a feather.” They are so much like sandpipers in appearance and in manner of flight that one is always surprised to see them alight on the water.
Perhaps even more surprising than their peculiar marital relations are their aquatic habits. Their semipalmated and lobed toes are well adapted for swimming and the thick, compact plumage of their under parts protects them and buoys them up on the water. They float as lightly as corks, or as freshly fallen autumn leaves on a woodland pool, swimming swiftly and whirling rapidly, undis- turbed by rushing currents or by foaming breakers. William Brew- ster (1925) has well described the behavior of a red phalarope on an inland stream at Umbagog Lake, Me.; he writes:
I strolled across a suspension footbridge that spans Bear River here, a shal- low stream rippling over a rocky bed scarce 50 feet in width, beneath over- hanging yellow birches and other deciduous trees. Returning a few minutes later I had reached the middle of the bridge when a grayish bird started di- rectly under it and flew off down stream for a few rods, skimming close to the water and uttering a sharp whit, whit, which reminded me of the call of a spotted sandpiper concerned for the safety of its young. Almost at the first glance I recognized the bird as a red phalarope whose presence in such a place surprised me greatly, of course. Alighting, again, in the middle of the river it floated buoyantly and stemmed the swift current with apparent ease, although avoiding such exertion, whenever possible, by taking advantage of backward- flowing eddies. Presently it began working around the bases of some large boulders where it Seemed to be obtaining abundant food by pecking rapidly
and incessantly at their rough flanks, wetted by lapping waves. It also fed on the surface of the swirling eddies, paddling about very rapidly and in
RED PHALAROPE jal
devious courses. It was most interesting to see a bird whose characteristic haunts, at least in autumn and winter, are boundless stretches of wind-swept ocean, thus disporting itself in a brawling mountain stream overarched by trees. Even a water ousel could not have appeared more perfectly at home there. Like most phalaropes this one was tame and confiding, but whenever I approached within 20 or 25 feet, it would rise and fly on a few yards, giving the whit call.
On land their movements are exceedingly rapid and graceful, though somewhat erratic; they run about excitedly with all the restless activity of sandpipers, nodding their heads with a pretty, dovelike motion. At such times they are remarkably tame, un- suspicious, and gentle birds; as they do not habitually come in contact with human beings, they are unafraid.
Voice—The vocal performances of the red phalarope are not elaborate. As quoted above, Doctor Nelson (1887) describes its note as “a low and musical clink, clink, sounding very much like the noise made by lightly tapping together two small bars of steel.” Mr. Brewster (1925) refers to the note as “an emphatic zip, zip, closely resembling that of Bonaparte’s sandpiper ... but louder and mellower.” Again he says: ‘“ Once they rose and flew about the pond precisely like small sandpipers, one of them uttering a peep- like ¢weet just as it left the water.” Charles W. Townsend (1920) saw one which “emitted a whistle which was clear and pleasant at times, and again sharp and grating; at times the note could be expressed as a creak.”
Field marks.—In its nuptial plumage the red phalarope can be easily recognized by its brilliant colors; the male is smaller, his colors are duller, and his breast is mixed with white. In its winter plumage, in which we usually see it, it is likely to be confused with the northern phalarope or the sanderling. It is larger than the former, more stockily built and has a shorter, thicker bill, which is yellowish at the base. From the sanderling it can be distinguished by the gray markings on the head and neck, which are mainly white in winter sanderlings, by the darker gray of the back and by the yellow at the base of the bill. Phalaropes are usually tame enough to allow close study of these details. John T. Nichols suggests to me the following additional field characters:
This phalarope holds its gray plumage well into the spring and adults quickly resume same when they go to sea in late summer. Around the first of August flocks offshore are in gray and white “winter” plumage, but a few birds have a peculiar pink tone appreciable on the underparts at fair range, apt to be strongest posteriorly, and which is diagnostic. It is caused by scattered old red feathers overlaid by the delicate tips of new white ones. The white
wing stripe is somewhat broader in this than in the northern phalarope and in gray plumage the upper parts are of so pale a tone that the wing pattern
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appears faint, something as it does in the piping plover. What seems to be a late summer plumage of birds of the year, on the other hand, is less white than the corresponding one of the northern. As the bird sits on the water the sides of its neck, breast, and sides appear brownish (not red or pink), the only touch of whitish it shows is on the flanks. At close range a curved phalarope mark behind the eye is just indicated, corresponding to the bold contrasting mark in the northern.
E'nemies.—Phalaropes are not considered game birds, as they are too small and too seldom seen in large numbers to warrant pursuing them; so man should not be counted among their enemies. On their Arctic breeding grounds they evidently have plenty of avian enemies, such as jaegers, gulls, and various gyrfalcons. Mr. Manniche (1910) writes:
The two phalaropes observed were evidently very much afraid of larger waders as for instance knots. Several times I saw them rush together in terror and lie motionless on the water with their heads pressed down to their backs until the supposed danger—a passing knot—was past; then they con- tinued their meal or love-making. The only enemy of the full-grown birds is the gyrfalecon (Falco gyrfalco), which will surprise and capture them when lying on the water. This I succeeded in observing one day in summer 1907; just as I was observing a male phalarope, which swam along the beach of a little clear pond hardly two paces from my feet, I suddenly heard a strong whistling in the air and saw an old falcon, that from a dizzy height shot like an arrow towards the surface of the water, caught the phalarope and again rapidly rose in the air carrying the bird in its talons. I saw the bird of prey descend and settle on the summit of a rock near the bay in order to eat its prey. The method, with which the falcon carried out its exploit, proved that several phalaropes before had the same fate. The gyrfalcon can certainly not catch a phalarope in flight.
Nature, however, sometimes takes her toll, as the following obser- vation on the coast of California reported by L. W. Welch (1922) will illustrate:
There was an unusual migration of red phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius) this past fall. I saw about three hundred within an hour on the ponds of the Long Beach Salt Works. This was October 30. There was a great mortality among them this year. Dead birds were brought to the schools picked up by children in the streets or elsewhere. On the ponds mentioned above, dead birds were washed up in windrows. I could count 19 from one position and 21 from another. I counted 75 within half an hour. The birds had no shot holes in them, and showed no external evidences of having flown against wires, but all the birds examined were emaciated in the extreme.
Mr. Brandt in his manuscript notes writes:
I was told that the natives look upon the flesh of the red phalarope as the greatest delicacy, and it is considered the choicest food that can be placed before an honored guest. ‘The little native boys have, as their most prized mark, this red-brown target. Inasmuch as this bird inhabits the small ponds just outside the villages, the young hunters have always easily stalked game available. The children begin to hunt the red phalarope as soon as they are large enough to pull a bow string. The chase is so alluring that the older boys
RED PHALAROPE 13
in my employ could not resist the temptation whenever presented, to grab a bow and arrow from the youngsters, and stalk this little bird. The chase is not one sided, however, as the phalarope is as quick as a flash, and like cupid’s arrows, many shots fail to reach their mark.
Fall.—The red phalaropes are the last of the waders to leave their Arctic breeding grounds, lingering until the lakes and shores are closed with ice, often well into October. These loiterers are all young birds; the adults leave early and are sometimes seen off the coasts of the United States in July. F. 8. Hersey and I collected one at Chatham, Mass., on July 4, 1921; this may have been a loiterer from the spring flight, but probably it was an early fall migrant.
The fall migration is usually well out at sea, often hundreds of miles from land. Kumlien (1879) writes:
These birds were met with at great distances from land. The first seen on our outward passage was on August 4, 1877, in latitude 41° N., longitude 68° W.; here large flocks were met with. As we proceeded northward, their num- bers increased till we reached Grinnell Bay. Off the Amitock Islands, on the Labrador coast, 200 miles from the nearest land, I saw very large flocks during a strong gale.
William Palmer (1890) met with it in great abundance between Cape Sable and Cape Cod on August 30.
Off the coast of California the flight begins in July or early August and continues through the fall; a few birds linger through the winter from Monterey southward. Throughout the great interior of North America migration records are scattering, hardly more than casuals. It is interesting, however, to note that Audubon (1840) saw his first birds of this species on the Ohio River near Louisville, Kentucky, where he killed 17 at one shot. I have an adult male in my collection which was shot on the Taunton River, near my home, on August 12, 1913.
Winter.—Our knowledge of the winter home of our American birds of this species is rather meager. They have been traced as far south as the Falkland Islands in the Atlantic Ocean and Juan Fernandez in the Pacific. Probably they are scattered over the warmer portions of both oceans, wherever they can find an abundant food supply.
A number of phalaropes, almost certainly of this species, were observed by Mr. Nichols in the Atlantic, off Cape Lookout, March 22, 1926. “They may winter here or, what is equally likely, arrive in spring to find the same feed which attracts the mackerel to the capes of the Carolinas in March or April.”
Aretas A. Saunders writes to me of a similar observation made by him off the coast of South Carolina on March 5, 1908:
That day red phalaropes were abundant on the water, though we were out of sight of land. The sea was calm with a glossy surface, but a slight swell.
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and flocks of from 10 to 50 birds rose from in front of the boat, at intervals all morning. They flew in compact flocks, low over the water, and alighted again when some distance away.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—Arctic regions of both Old and New Worlds; south in winter to South Africa, India, China, and southern South America.
Breeding range.—In the Old World the red phalarope breeds on the Arctic coast from Iceland east to Nova Zembla, the Taimur Pen- insula, and the islands and coast of Siberia to Bering Sea. The race, jourdaini, breeds in Spitsbergen, Iceland, and eastern Greenland.
In the Western Hemisphere the breeding range extends north to Alaska (probably St. Lawrence Island, Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Lowenstern, Point Barrow, and the Colville delta) ; Mackenzie (Ren- dezvous Lake and Franklin Bay) ; northern Franklin (Bay of Mercy, Winter Harbor, and Cape Liverpool); Grinnell Island (Fort Con- ger) ; and Greenland (Disco Bay, Godhavn, and probably Christian- shaab). East to Greenland (Stormkap and probably Christian- shaab) ; eastern Franklin (Exeter Sound, probably Nugumeute and Grinnell Bay); and Ungava (Port Burwell). South to Ungava (Port Burwell and probably Prince of Wales Sound); southern Franklin (Southampton Island and Cape Fullerton); and Alaska (Fort Egbert and Hooper Bay). West to Alaska (Hooper Bay, St. Michael, and probably St. Lawrence Island).
Winter range.—In the Eastern Hemisphere the winter range of the red phalarope seems to be principally at sea off the southern coast of Arabia and the west coast of Africa.
At this season in the Western Hemisphere it has been taken or observed north to Lower California (La Paz and Cape San Lucas) ; off the coast of Southern California (Point Pinos, Santa Cruz Islands, Anacapa Island, and San Diego); Alabama (Pickett Springs) ; Florida (Canaveral Light) ; and South Carolina (Mount Pleasant) ; and south to southern South America (Falkland Islands. Patagonia, and Chile).
Spring migration—Karly dates of arrival in North America are: North Carolina, Cape Lookout, May 29; Delaware, seen off the coast, May 9; New Jersey, Cape May, May 3, and Ocean City, May 6; New York, Shelter Island, March 25, and Montauk Point, April 30; Connecticut, Bridgeport, May 80; Massachusetts, Gloucester, April 2; Maine, York Beach, May 8; Nova Scotia, Halifax, June 10; Quebec, Prince of Wales Sound, May 31; Washington, Destruction Island lighthouse, May 8; and Alaska, Cape Constantine, May 15, Kodiak Island, May 16, near Kotlik, May 28, Prince Frederick Sound, May 29, and Point Barrow, June 3.
RED PHALAROPE 15
Fall migration.—Late dates of departure in the fall are: Alaska, Chatham Straits, September 9, Becharof Lake, October 6, Point Barrow, October 10, St. Michael, October 14, and Kodiak Island, November 4; Washington, Ilwaco, November 9, and Shoalwater Bay, November 24; California, Berkeley, October 27, Poimt Reyes, No- vember 22, and Santa Barbara, November 30; Labrador, West Ste. Modiste, September 18; Prince Edward Island, North River, No- vember 20; Nova Scotia, off the coast, September 16; Maine, West- brook, September 26, Old Orchard, October 5, and Portland, October 16; Massachusetts, North Truro, October 15, near Nantucket, October 25, and Boston, December 30; Connecticut, Portland, October 21, and East Haven, November 24; New York, Oneida Lake, October 4, Branchport, October 12, Orient Point, October 15, Cayuga Lake, October 18, and Montauk Point, November 27; Maryland, White’s Ferry, October 4; District of Columbia, Anacostia River, October 17; and Virginia, Blacksburg, September 21.
Casual records.—The red phalarope is rare or irregular anywhere in the interior but it has nevertheless been detected over wide areas on several occasions. Among these records are: Vermont, Woodstock, November 10, 1916; Pennsylvania, Bucks County, December 15, 1918; Ohio, Painesville, November 9, 1923; Ontario, Ottawa, October 21, 1886, and Hamilton, November 17, 1882; Michigan, Monroe, October 24, 1888, and October 25, 1890; Indiana, Jasper County, April 10, 1885, and Terre Haute, October 23, 1889; Wisconsin, Lake Koshkonong, September 3, 1891, Delavan, October 11, 1902, and near Cedar Grove, October 8, 1921; Kentucky, near Louisville, latter part of October, 1808; South Dakota, one taken near Rapid City. (date unknown); Kansas, near Lawrence, November 5, 1905; Wyoming, Laramie Plains, fall of 1897; Colorado, Loveland, July 25, 1895; and Texas, Wise County, September 26, 1893. It also has been taken once in New Zealand, at Waimate, South Island, in June, 1883.
Egg dates.—Alaska: 152 records, May 25 to July 18; 76 records, June 14 to 30. Arctic Canada: 14 records, June 21 to July 14; 7 records, June 24 to July 6. Spitsbergen: 22 records, June 24 to July 18; 11 records, June 28 to July 11. Iceland: 17 records, June 1 to 25; 9 records, June 14 to 22.
LOBIPES LOBATUS (Linnaeus) NORTHERN PHALAROPE
HABITS
This is the smallest, the most abundant, and the most widely dis. tributed of the phalaropes; consequently it is the best known. Its breeding range is circumpolar, but extends much farther south than
16 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
that of the red phalarope; it might be called sub-Arctic rather than Arctic. There seems to be only one homogeneous species around the world. It resembles the red phalarope in its habits, but is more often seen on inland waters than is that species.
Spring.—Countless thousands of these dainty little birds migrate northward off both coasts of North America in May, but very few ever come ashore except in bad weather. While cruising off the coast, 10 or more miles from land, one is likely to see them flying about in flocks, after the manner of small sandpipers, flitting about and alighting on drifting masses of seaweed or other flotsam, or swimming lightly on the smooth surface of the sea, darting hither and thither in a most erratic way, each seemingly intent on gather- ing its tiny bits of food. ‘They are gentle, graceful, and charming little birds and well worth watching.
There is also a heavy northward migration through the interior during May. In Saskatchewan I saw a large flock at Quill Lake on May 28, 1917; and in the Crane Lake region we recorded it as an abundant migrant; it was seen migrating, on May 29, 1905, in large flocks with sanderlings; one was seen at Hay Lake on June 15; and two were taken on June 14, 1906, at Big Stick Lake, which were in breeding condition. C. G. Harrold writes to me that it is a common and rather late migrant in Manitoba. William Rowan’s notes con- tain several references to the enormous flocks which pass Beaverhill Lake, Alberta, in May, mostly during the last two weeks.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) has given us the following attractive account of the arrival of these birds in northern Alaska:
As summer approaches on the Arctic shores and coast of Bering Sea the numberless pools, until now hidden under a snowy covering, become bordered or covered with water; the mud about their edges begins to soften, and through the water the melting ice in the bottom looks pale green. The ducks and geese fill the air with their loud resounding cries, and the rapid wing strokes of arriving and departing flocks add a heavy bass to the chorus which greets the opening of another glad season in the wilds of the cheerless north. Amid this loud-tongued multitude suddenly appears the graceful. fairylike form of the northern phalarope. Perhaps, as the hunter sits by the border of a secluded pool still half covered with snow and ice, a pair of slight wings flit before him, and there, riding on the water, scarcely making a ripple, floats this charming and elegant bird. It glides hither and thither on the water, apparently drifted by its faney, and skims about the pool like an autumn leaf wafted before the playful zephyrs on some embosomed lakelet in the forest. The delicate tints and slender fragile form, combining grace of color and outline with a pecu- liarly dainty elegance of motion, render this the most lovely and attractive among its handsome congeners.
The first arrivals reach St. Michaels in full plumage from May 14 to 15, and their number is steadily augmented, until, the last few days of May and Ist of June, they are on hand in full force and ready to set about the season’s cares. Every pool now has from one to several pairs of these birds gliding in restless zigzag motion around its border, the slender necks at times darting quickly
=
NORTHERN PHALAROPE bi?
right or left as the bright black eyes catch sight of some minute particle of food. They may be watched with pleasure for hours, and present a picture of exquisite gentleness which renders them an unfailing source of interest. The female of this bird, as is the case with the two allied species, is much more richly colored than the male and possesses all the “rights” demanded by the most radical reformers.
Courtship—The same gifted writer goes on to say:
As the season comes on when the flames of love mount high, the dull-colored male moves about the pool, apparently heedless of the surrounding fair ones. Such stoical indifference usually appears too much for the feelings of some of the fair ones to bear. A female coyly glides close to him and bows her head in pretty submissiveness, but he turns away, pecks at a bit of food and moves off; she follows and he quickens his speed, but in vain; he is her choice, and she proudly arches her neck and in mazy circles passes and re- passes close before the harassed bachelor. He turns his breast first to one side, then to the other, as though to escape, but there is his gentle wooer ever pressing her suit before him. Frequently he takes flight to another part of the pool, all to no purpose. If with affected indifference he tries to feed, she swims along side by side, almost touching him, and at intervals rises on wing above him and, poised a foot or two over his back, makes a half dozen quick, sharp wing strokes, producing a series of sharp, whistling noises in rapid succession. In the course of time it is said that water will wear the hardest rock, and it is certain that time and importunity have their full effect upon the male of this phalarope, aud soon all are comfortably married, while mater familias no longer needs to use her seductive ways and charming blandishments to draw his notice.
Mrs. Audrey Gordon (1921) made some interesting observations on the courtship of the red-necked phalarope, as this species is called abroad; she writes of her experiences in the Hebrides:
Three pairs were apparently in process of courting and their behavior was most interesting. Both cocks and hens were swimming in the water near the shore or in pools among the rushes. Suddenly a hen would raise herself in the water and flutter her wings at a great pace with her head held down and neck outstretched, all the while uttering a curious harsh call. She would then pursue the cock rapidly through the water for a few yards as though trying to attract his attention. At times the cock rose from the water and flew round about the pool where the hen was, with a low erratic flight and very slow wing beats, calling as he flew. This display only lasted a minute, when he would again alight on the water. Once after this flight the hen followed him closely and he turned and seemed to be about to mate her, but she would not let him. I saw no more on this occasion, but on June 18 I watched two hens and one cock in a pool. One of the hens kept close to the cock and whenever the other hen came nearer she would chase her away. Both the cock and the hen were seen to stand up in the water and flutter their wings as described above. The cock seemed to pay little attention to the hens and was busy pursuing, and picking up off the water, large black flies. Then, without any warning or unusual excitement on the part of either cock or hen, the nearest one to the cock suddenly put her head low down in the water with neck outstretched and made a curious single note. The cock at once swam to her and mating took place, the hen being submerged in the water except for her beautiful red neck. The cock fluttered his wings all the time; he then
18 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
went ashore into the grasses. The second hen still kept in the neighborhood, though I imagine she must have realized she had lost her chance of a mate.
P. H. Bahr (1907) throws some light on the peculiar sexual rela- tions of this species; he says:
On the 5th of June we watched the phenomena of polygamy, and of at- — tempted polyandry in this species. At one end of the loch the former con- dition held sway, two energetic and quarrelsome females having attached themselves to one miserable-looking male, and it was ludicrous to behold the awe in which he held them. Once in particular he nearly swam between my legs in his efforts to avoid their attentions. Till our departure on the 27th, these three birds were constantly to be seen together. At the other end of the loch two males were seen continuously cireling round the head of a female. I frequently observed the male performing evolutions, which I have previously described as the “marriage flight.” Zigzagging from side to side with amazing rapidity he would hover with dangling legs over the head of the female, who, circling placidly in the water, appeared to take no notice of his attentions. Then settling beside her he would peck and chase her as if endeavoring to make her take to flight. Failing in this he would dash off once more across the marsh uttering a warbling sort of song much like that of the ringed plover. Then he would settle in a reedy spot, such as would be chosen for the nesting site, and would eall vigorously, looking always in the direction of the female, as if expecting her to follow. I observed several pairs, behaving in this manner, and such was their fervor that the males con- tinued this performance even in the midst of one of the worst storms we ex- perienced. Often the female would resent these attentions, and a pitched battle would ensue.
Herbert W. Brandt (mss.) writes:
It is very interesting to watch a struggle between two female northern phalaropes over a solitary male. They fight by the hour, not after the man- ner of the males, which rush at each other and boldly lock in a mortal combat, but rather these females fight by flipping their wings and pecking at each other instead of laying hold with determination. This can be likened only to a feminine hair-pulling episode. One day I watched such a combat for an hour, and there were numerous occasions on which I thought that one of the birds would succumb; but the contest seemed to be very equal, and when a bird recovered from a hard onslaught it would return at once and take up the wing sparring. ‘They would flutter here and there over the ground, first one then the other attacking, closely followed all the time by the shy but neutral male, the prize of the conflict. Natives informed me that they had never known of one’s being killed by the other, but that the birds would fight all day long.
Nesting.—My personal experience with the nesting habits of the northern phalarope has been limited to what few nests we found in the Aleutian Islands in 1911. These birds were very scarce or entirely absent in the eastern half of the chain. We saw a few on Atka Island where several nests, with fresh eggs or incomplete sets, were found on June 18. On Kiska Island they were really abundant and we found them breeding about the small grassy ponds and wet meadows; fresh eggs were found on June 21. Their favorite
NORTHERN PHALAROPE 19
resorts all through the western part of the chain were the wetter portions of the flat alluvial plains, near the mouths of the streams and about the marshy ponds. They were very tame everywhere and, about the ponds where they were breeding, they were very solicitous and noisy. Their simple nests were merely deep, little hollows, lined with a few bits of grass, in the little mounds or tus- socks in the wet meadows around the borders of the ponds or near the small streams.
F. S. Hersey collected several sets of eggs for me near St. Michael, Alaska, in 1914 and 1915; most of the nests were in rather wet sit- uations on the tundra, in or near marshy places, rather poorly con- cealed and scantily lined with grasses; others were well hidden in the clumps of scanty grass, or deeply sunken into the tundra mosses and lined with bits of leaves or well lined with grasses. Other observers have described the nesting habits of this species substan- tially as indicated above, except that Henry H. Slater (1898), who has “encountered 45 nests with eggs in them in one day, and con- siderably more than a hundred altogether”, describes the nest as “a deep comfortable cup, concealed in a tuft of grass, or under a trailing branch of some dwarf Arctic shrub.”
Eggs.—The northern phalarope lays four eggs almost invariably, rarely three eggs constitute a second set; as many as five and even seven eggs have been found in a nest, the largest number being the product of two females. The eggs vary in shape from subpyriform to ovate pyriform, are slightly glossy and are very fragile. The prevalent ground colors range from “ pale olive buff” to “dark olive buff ” or “ecru olive;” “olive buff” seems to be the commonest shade. In richly colored sets the colors range from “Isabella color,” or “Dresden brown” to “buckthorn brown;” and in light buffy sets from “cream buff” to “cream color.” The size, type, and arrange- ment of markings vary greatly in endless patterns. Some eggs, perhaps only one in a set, are evenly covered with small spots or dots, but more often these are mixed with larger, irregular spots or blotches. Some eggs are boldly marked with large irregular blotches. The colors of the markings range from “sepia,” or “warm sepia,” and “bister ” to deep blackish brown, depending on the depth of the pigment. The underlying spots, in various drab shades, are small, inconspicuous and not numerous. In my series of over 50 sets there are two abnormal eggs; one is plain bluish white and un- marked; and another is similar except for one large blotch of “ sepia” covering the large end. The measurements of 119 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 29 by 20 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 33 by 21, 28 by 22.5, 27 by 19, and 31 by 18.5 millimeters.
20 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
Young.—The period of incubation does not seem to be definitely known, but probably it is not far from 21 days. A set of four eggs found by H. B. Conover on June 10 hatched on the evening of June 30. Incubation is performed largely. but perhaps not wholly, by the male. H. H. Slater (1898) writes:
Jerdon asserts that the females (of ail the phalaropes presumably) leave the care of the nests to the males and lead a club life in separate flocks. In the present species I have not found the sex to be so much “emancipated.” I have never shot the red-necked phalarope off the nest, often as I have had a chance to do so, nor have I seen bare hatching spots on the breasis of either sex. I have no doubt that the males are the most attentive parents, but in the case of isolated nests the second bird makes its appearance before you have been there long, and I have repeatedly seen both with the young. In fact, I should have said that of all the birds I know the present species is the most connubial, and the mutual devotion of a pair is a most charming thing to see— in fact, quite touching. When not actively employed they treat themselves, and one another, to all manner of pretty and playful endearments.
Hugh S. Gladstone (1907) says:
Ineubation is performed mostly, if not entirely, by the male. I flushed females off nests on two occasions, but in one case the full complement of eggs was not yet laid, and in the other I think they were only newly laid. The ground color of the eggs varied from stone to olive, and in one nest all four eggs were remarkably rotund. They take some 18 days to hatch, and only one brood is hatched in the season, though if the first sitting is destroyed the bird will lay again. The nestlings, although they can not fly for some days, are wonderfully precocious and can swim immediately. Their beautiful golden downy plumage becomes paler and paler, even after the first 24 hours.
When the nest contains eggs the female bird shows the greatest anxiety. She can be seen swimming about in the pools; or, rising without any splash, flying up and down quite close to one, uttering a low cry of “ plip, plip,” varied by a hoarse “ chiss-ick.’ This cry warns the male, which never flies off the nest, but always creeps through the grass and rushes, to some pool, near one of which the nest is invariably placed. Here he will soon be joined by the female, and they will swim about trying to hide their anxiety by preening their feathers or pretending to feed.
Some observers have said that the young do not take to the water until they are fully fledged, but Mr. Hersey’s notes say that: “They run lightly over the beaten down masses of grass around the tundra ponds and when they know they are discovered take to the water and swim as well as their parents.”
Doctor Nelson (1887) writes:
Fresh eggs are rarely found after June 20th, and by the middle to 20th of July the young are fledged and on the wing. By the 12th to 15th of July a few of the ashy feathers of the autumnal plumage appear, and soon after old and young begin to gather in parties of from five to a hundred or more, and seek the edges of large ponds and flats or the muddy parts of the coast and borders of tide creeks. During August and September they are found on the bays, and the last are seen about the last of September or first of October.
NORTHERN PHALAROPE 21
Pluwmages—The general color pattern of the downy young northern phalarope is similar to that of the red phalarope, but it differs in some details and the colors are lighter and more yellowish above. The colors vary from “ ochraceous tawny,” on the crown and rump, to “antimony yellow,” on the rest of the upper parts, and to “Naples yellow” on the throat. The underparts are more exten- sively grayish white than in the preceeding species and there is con- siderable whitish between the black stripes on the back. There is more black in the crown, which is nearly surrounded by it, and the black terminates in a point on the nape. A very narrow black line runs from the bill to the eye; and there is a black auricular patch. The central black stripe on the back is broad, but the side stripes are narrow, and there are extensive black patches on thighs and wings.
I have seen no specimens showing the progress of development of the juvenal plumage. In the full juvenal plumage in August, the crown, occiput, and a space around the eye are black, the former faintly mottled with buff; the remainder of the head, throat, and under parts are white, more or less suffused with “light cinnamon drab” and gray on the sides of the neck, breast, and flanks; the feathers of the back and scapulars are brownish black, broadly edged with bright “ochraceous tawny,” which gradually fades; some of the tertials are narrowly edged with the same color; the median and inner greater wing coverts and the central tail feathers are narrowly edged with pale buff or white.
A partial molt of the body plumage in September and October produces the first winter plumage, which is like that of the winter adult, except that the juvenal wings are retained. The sexes are alike in the juvenal and all winter plumages. <A partial prenuptial molt, from February to June, involving the body plumage, some of the wing coverts and scapulars and the tail, produces the first nuptial plumage, in which the sexes differ, and which is nearly, if not quite, indistinguishable from that of the adult.
Adults have a complete molt from July to October and an incom- plete molt from February to June, similar to that of the young bird, producing the distinct and well-known winter and nuptial plumages.
Food.—The northern phalarope obtains most of its food in the water, on the ocean or in bays or in brackish pools or in fresh-water ponds. Its characteristic and best-known method of feeding, on which many observers have commented, is to swim rapidly about in a small circle or to spin around in one spot, by alternate strokes of its lobed feet; this quick whirling action is supposed to stir up the minute forms of animal life on which it feeds and bring them within reach of its needlelike bill, which it jabs into the water two
54267—27——3
22 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
or three times during each revolution; the spinning motion is often very rapid and sometimes quite prolonged, a curious performance to watch. We saw this many times in the Aleutian Islands where small flocks were constantly seen spinning around about the old piers or feeding in the surf off the beaches where they floated buoyantly over the little waves or fluttered over the crests of the small breakers.
William Brewster (1925) describes an interesting feeding per- formance, at Umbagog Lake, Maine, as follows:
Alighting again, about 100 yards off, it began fluttering about in circles, now narrowly clearing the water for a yard or two, next hitting against or skittering over the surface, acting indeed, for all the world like some enfeebled butterfly or clumsy moth, alternately attracted and repelled by a forest pool lying in deep shadow. 'Phis singular performance was occasionally varied by more pronounced upward flights, extending to a height of several feet, and apparently undertaken in pursuit of flying insects, passing overhead.
Both the northern and the red phalaropes feed in large numbers at sea, often being associated together; their favorite feeding places are in the tide rips, on or around floating masses of seaweed, in the vicinity of whales or near schools of fish. George H. Mackay (1894) writes:
On May 25, 1894, about 10,000 (as carefully estimated) were observed rest- ing on the water around the “pigs” (rocks lying off Swampscott), occupying an area of about a mile radius. They were feeding on the red whale bait (brit) some of which was taken from them., I am informed that these birds follow the mackerel, which also feed on this brit, by their pursuit of which it is driven to the surface, and is then obtainable by the birds. I am also told that in the Bay of Fundy the phalaropes so frighten the mackerel when they come to the surface in pursuit of the brit, that the fish sink themselves. To prevent this, the fishermen carry at times quantities of liver cut up, which they throw out to attract these birds and keep them away from the fish in order that they may be better able to capture the latter.
Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1925), in his report on the food of the northern phalarope, gives the results of the examination of 155 stomachs, collected in Alaska and in the United States, from May to October, inclusive; flies and the larvae of mosquitoes were the largest element, 32.8 per cent; the true bugs (Hemiptera) came next, 31.8 per cent, including water boatmen and back swimmers; beetles represented 16.5 and crustaceans 9.3 per cent; the remainder con- tained dragonfly nymphs, spiders, marine worms, small mollusks, a few’ small fishes and a few seeds. Various other insects and their larvae, many of which are injurious, are included in the food of this bird.
Behavior.—In flight these phalaropes remind one of the smaller sandpipers; their flight is swift and often erratic; when flying in flocks they twist and turn and wheel back and forth like a flock of peeps, flashing white or dark gray, as breasts or backs are turned
NORTHERN PHALAROPE 23
toward the observer. Mr. Brewster (1883) has seen them pitch “down from a considerable height with closed wings, much as snipe will do under similar circumstances.” Again he (1925) speaks of seeing one “rise abruptly to a height of 15 or 20 feet, and poise there for a moment, beating its wings and shaking its tail in a vio- lent and peculiar manner.”
It is while swimming on smooth water that the northern phalarope seems most at home, most graceful, charming, and confiding; it is usually very tame and easily approached, but sometimes, especially when in large flocks, it seems to be afraid of a boat and keeps be- yond gun range. It swims lightly as a cork, its thick coat of breast feathers giving it great buoyancy, its head is held high and carried with a graceful nodding motion. When a flock alights on the water, the individuals soon scatter and swim about rapidly and independ- ently in zigzag lines or circles, jabbing their bills into the water in a nervous and excited manner. I have never seen them dive and doubt if they can do so, as they seem to have great difficulty in getting under water, even to bathe. They frequently alight on floating masses of seaweed, where they run about and feed with all the nervous activity of small sandpipers on a mud flat. Roland C. Ross (1924) made some interesting observations in southern Cali- fornia; he writes:
The northern phalarope is quite fearless in this region, but seldom does one find the birds so confiding as in the following instance: Mr. Ray Francisco, the warden for the gun club on this marsh, was working in water a foot or two deep, pulling out sedges, dock, and arrowweed. The northern phalaropes took an interest in this roiled up water and drew close to dab at the surface and “whirligig” about in their unique way. As the man kept at work they drew nearer until actually about his feet. They stayed with him until he stopped work in that section. They were observed sleeping on land and water, bill along the back under a wing. Their ablutions were absurd attempts to get a swanlike breast and neck under water, when such airy grace and buoyancy forbade any subaquatic ventures. To get the proper ducking the phalarope stretches up and drives his pretty head and breast down in the water, which effort promptly forces his tail end up; whereupon like a cork he rebounds, to ride high and dry above the water with hardly a sign of mois- ture on the close-fitting plumage. At once he jerks up and ducks again, and again, all to little avail, seemingly. This up-jerk and ducking motion can be observed at a good distance, and the birds may be identified by it.”
A curious little incident, observed in the Hebrides by Misses Best and Haviland (1914), is thus described:
On the south side of the loch, just where we had seen the pair of birds on our previous visit, we found a male and female in the long herbage at the water side. Perhaps we ought to reverse the usual order and say female and male, for the traditional dominance of the masculine sex is entirely unknown in this species. Certainly this cock bird was a most henpecked little fowl. Possibly he had been captured immediately on his arrival from the sea. At any
24. BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
rate, he was apparently tired out, and whenever the hen stopped, as she frequently did, to preen herself or feed, he sat down where he was, and tucking his bill under his feathers, went to sleep. Before he had dozed for more than a minute, however, the female would peck him awake, and, calling querulously, force him to follow her while she led the way through the marsh. Now and then she flew at him and chased him about, as if losing patience. This little scene was repeated three or four times, and the birds were so confiding that we were able to photograph them in the act.
Aretas A. Saunders writes to me:
I watched flocks of these birds on a small pond near the Priest Butte Lakes, in Seton County, Mont. They flew to the pond in a compact flock, scattered over the pond to feed, and evidently gathered insects from the surface of the water. When frightened by the approach of a marsh hawk the birds all rose, quickly formed the compact flock and flew away, returning later when the hawk had gone,
Voice.—-The vocal performances of this little phalarope are not elaborate or striking. As it rises from the water it utters a plaintive and rather faint twittering note of one, two or three syllables, which has been variously noted as tchip, or tchep, or pe-et, or pleep, or wit, wit, or quet, quet. Charles W. Townsend (1920) says that it has a variety of notes. At times it twitters like a barn swallow, at times it emits a single harsh note like that of the eave swallow. Again a gentle ce-ep is emitted, or a sharp quip. According to Witherby’s Handbook (1920), ‘“‘Gladstone describes alarm note as a hoarse chiss-ick, and Aplin speaks of a short gutt, a rapid ket-ket, ket-ket, and chirra-chirra-chirra at nesting places.”
Field marks —The northern is the smallest of the three phalaropes. Jt is the one most likely to be seen on inland ponds, except where the Wilson phalarope is common; but the latter is much larger and lighter colored, especially in fall and winter. The best field marks are small size, small head, slender neck and needlelike bill. The upper parts are blackish or dark gray (not pearly gray, as in the others) and in flight a white stripe shows conspicuously near the posterior border of the wing.
fall——Northern pharalopes are very abundant during August and September off the coasts of New England, but they seldom come near shore, except in severe storms. The main migration route is so far off shore, south of Cape Cod, that these birds are seldom seen in the Atlantic coast south of New England.
There is a heavy fall migration throughout the interior, which begins quite early. We found them abundant on both migrations in Saskatchewan and Alberta. After I left, Dr. L. B. Bishop saw a flock of 100 at Many Island Lake, Alberta, on July 18, 1905, the beginning of the fall migration; they were still more abundant at Big Stick Lake, Saskatchewan, on the 19th; nearly all of the birds
NORTHERN PHALAROPE 25
taken on these two dates were adult females; many males were probably still tending broods of young. A. G. Lawrence writes to me that these birds are fairly common transients in southern Mani- toba, from August 15 to the end of September.
H. L. Stoddard (1923) has published the following note:
Occasionally in August and September of past years large flocks of small shore birds have been seen a long way offshore in the sand-dune region of southern Lake Michigan circling and wheeling, flashing alternately snow-white breasts and darker backs. Long-range examination with binoculars showed rather prominent whitish wing bars, but the identity of the birds was never satisfactorily determined until the afternoon of August 28, 1921, when the writer was camping at the mouth of the above-mentioned Bar Creek, in She- boygan County, Wis. About 2 o’clock in the afternoon a light fog drifted in, and soon after large numbers of small shore birds, similar in actions and appearance to those mentioned, were sighted executing extraordinary maneu- vers close to the surface of the water about 500 yards out. “They circled and recircled, turned and twisted, some of the flocks finally alighting in some smooth streaks in the water inshore of a long line of net stakes that extended about a mile out. Fully 500 of the birds, now recognized as phalaropes, were in sight. One specimen, a female in fall plumage, was finally secured by tying the shot- gun onto driftwocd pieces and swimming out among them. ‘They were in no way disturbed at my presence until a shot was fired, and I fully satisfied myself that the bulk of the flock were of the same species as the one secured, northern phalaropes.
J. A. Munro tells me that these birds are irregular fall migrants at Okanagan Landing, British Columbia, from July 28 to September 18. Along the California coast the fall migration is heavy and pro- longed from the latter part of July until late October or early November, the bulk of the flight passing during August and Sep- tember. Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) say:
Heavy winds on the ocean sometimes prove disastrous to the migrating hosts of northern phalaropes. Chapman records finding many bodies of this species in the tide pools of the Farallon Islands. A heavy northwest wind had been blowing along the coast for the previous two weeks, and many of the birds had resorted to inland pools of water. The emaciated condition of the birds at the Farallones was probably due to their inability to procure food while on the open ocean in migration. Forbush records numbers of these birds as being killed on the Atlantic coast by dashing against lighthouses at night. In the Cape Region of Lower California, Brewster found that ‘most of the birds examined had lost one or more toes, and two or three an entire foot, and part of the tarsus also, while others showed gaping wounds on the breast. These mutilations were probably caused by the bites of fishes.” Emerson records finding several of these birds killed by flying against the telephone wires strung across the salt ponds on the marshes west of Hayward, and says that very many of this and other species of birds are killed in this manner.
Winter.—Practically nothing is known about the winter home of this species in the Western Hemisphere. It is evidently south of the borders of the United States and probably south of the Equator on
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the open ocean. The few straggling winter records for California and South America give but a scant clue to the winter resorts of the vast numbers that pass us on migrations.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—Distributed over both Old and New Worlds.
Breeding range.—Arctic regions of both hemispheres. In Europe and Asia the breeding range of the northern phalarope extends from Iceland, Spitsbergen, and Scandinavia, across northern Russia and Siberia to Bering Sea. South to Sakhalin Island, southern Russia (Orenburg), and the Outer Hebrides, Shetland, and Orkney Islands.
In North America the breeding range extends north to Alaska (Near Islands, St. Paul Island, Nelson Island, Pastolik, St. Michael, probably Golofin Bay, the Kowak Valley, Cape Blossom, Point Hope, Point Barrow, and the Gens de Large Mountains) ; Mackenzie (Franklin Bay); Keewatin (Cape Eskimo) ; probably Baffin Island (Cumberland Sound) ; and Greenland (North Star Bay, Upernavik and Jacob’s Bight). East to Greenland (Disko Island) ; Labrador (Nain and Hopedale); and western Quebec (Fort George and Rupert House). South to western Quebec (Rupert House) ; north- ern Manitoba (York Factory and Fort Churchill) ; Mackenzie (Artil- lery Lake and Fort Rae) ; and Alaska (Nushagak and Kiska Island). West to Alaska (Kiska and Near Islands).
Winter range.—The winter range of the European and Asiatic birds appears to extend south to southern Japan, the north coast of New Guinea, Ceram, the coast of Beluchistan, the east coast of Arabia, and probably points in the northern part of the Indian Ocean.
The winter range of North American breeding birds of this species is more or less imperfectly known, and they are believed to winter largely at sea. It has been reported as wintering in southern Cali- fornia; it has been taken or observed in Costa Rica (Desamparados) and Peru (Tumbez) ; there is a specimen in the museum at Buenos Aires, Argentina, that was taken in Patagonia.
Spring migration—Karly dates of arrival in North America are: Florida, 175 miles west of Tampa, March 14; Bermuda Islands, March 18; South Carolina, near Chester, May 17; North Carolina, Cape Lookout, April 3; Maryland, Cumberland, May 23; New Jer- sey, 80 miles off Barnegat, May 6, and Cape May County, May 22; New York, Long Cave, April 2, Montauk Point, April 30, and Branchport, May 16; Connecticut, Quinnipiac Marshes, May 21; Massachusetts, near Boston, May 5, Marthas Vineyard, May 6, and Provincetown, May 21; Maine, near Milo, May 3; Quebec, Godbout, May 27; Nova Scotia, Halifax, May 12; Ohio, Youngs-
NORTHERN PHALAROPE 2h
town, May 26; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 10; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, May 19; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 15, Osler, May 18, and Dinsmore, May 30; Colorado, Loveland, May 1, Denver, May 17, and Middle Park, May 26; Montana, Big Sandy, May 18, and Terry, May 21; Alberta, Beaverhill Lake, May 7; California, Monterey, April 9, Santa Barbara, April 24, Fresno, May 5, Los Banos, May 19, and Santa Cruz, May 22; Oregon, Klamath Falls, April 17, Malheur Lake, April 26, and Newport, April 30; Washington, De- struction Island Lighthouse, April 27, Shoalwater Bay, May 9, and Olympia, May 13; British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, May 18, and Mabel Lake, May 25; Yukon, Forty-mile, May 3; Alaska, Fort Kenia, May 3, Bethel, May 19, Kowak River, May 22, Igushik, May 23, St. Michael, May 14, Fort Yukon, June 1, and Point Barrow, June 11; and Greenland, North Star Bay, June 14.
Fall migration—tLate dates of departure are: Alaska, Pribilof Islands, August 31, Port Clarence, September 6, and Okutan, September 17; British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, October 15; Washington, Clallam Bay, October 28; Oregon, Oswego, September 25; California, Fresno, October 6, Watsonville, October 20, and Monterey, October 24; Montana, Priest Butte Lakes, September 4, Columbia Falls, September 13, and Corvallis, September 20; Idaho, Salmon River Mountains, September 5; Wyoming, Fort Washakie, September 13, and Yellowstone Park, September 18; Colorado, near Denver, October 18; Manitoba, Whitewater Lake, September 9, and Shoal Lake, September 21; North Dakota, Stump Lake, September 2; Nebraska, Lincoln, October 26; Minnesota, St. Vincent, August 31; Wisconsin, near Cedar Grove, September 23; Ontario, Ottawa, October 12; Ohio, Youngstown, October 9; Newfoundland, Oc- tober 11; Ungava, mouth of the Koksoak River, September 19; Maine, near Pittsfield, September 3; New Hampshire, Lonesome Lake, September 22, Lancaster, October 8, and Dublin Pond, October 13; Massachusetts, Nantucket, September 20, near Springfield, September 23, Swampscott, September 26, Harvard, October 5, and Ware, October 13; Connecticut, Hartford, September 27; New York, Branchport, September 15, Athol Spring, September 24, Oneida Lake, September 21, Ithaca, September 27, Flushing, September 29, and Montauk Point, October 22; New Jersey, Stone Harbor, Septem- ber 4, near Tuckerton, September 13, and 5-fathom Beach Light, October 12; Pennsylvania, Pittston, September 2, Beaver, September 26, Carlisle, October 1, and Erie, October 10; District of Columbia, Washington, August 31; West Virginia, near Parkersburg, Septem- ber 26; North Carolina, Bladen County, September 23; and South Carolina, Frogmore, September 25, and Sea Islands, October 25.
Casual records—The northern phalarope is apparently less com- mon in the Mississippi Valley and the Southwest. Some records in
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these regions are: Michigan, Lenawee County, September 14, 1899, near Forestville, October 4, 1911, and October 28, 1911; Indiana, Fort Wayne, June 7, 1889; [llinois, Calumet Lake, September 27, 1903; Iowa, Burlington, August 10, 1894, and Omaha, May 6, 1896; Missouri, near St. Louis, October 9, 1878; Kansas, May 25, 1883; New Mexico, Las Vegas, August 31, 1908; and Arizona, Walker Lake, August 19, 1889.
Egg dates—Alaska: 83 records, May 20 to July 23; 42 records, June 12 to 25. Arctic Canada: 58 records, June 16 to July 10; 29 records, June 23 to July 1. Iceland: 43 records, May 25 to July 12; 22 records, June 8 to 26. British Isles: 18 records, May 16 to July 12; 9 records, June 7 to 24.
STEGANOPUS TRICOLOR Vieillot
WILSON PHALAROPE HABITS
I shall never forget my first impressions of a prairie slough with its teeming bird life, an oasis of moisture in a sea of dry, grassy plain, where all the various water birds of the region were thickly congregated. Perhaps 10 or a dozen species of ducks could be seen in the open water, gulls and terns were drifting about overhead, grebes and countless coots were scurrying in and out among the reeds, and noisy killdeers added their plaintive cries to the ceaseless din from swarms of blackbirds in the marsh. In marked contrast to the clownish coots and the noisy killdeers and blackbirds, the almost silent, gentle, dainty, little phalaropes stand out in memory as charming features in the picture, so characteristic of western bird life. The virgin prairies are nearly gone, but there are still left a few oases of moisture in our encroaching civilization, where these graceful birds may continue to delight the eye with their gentle manners.
Unlike the other two world-wide species, the Wilson phalarope is a strictly American bird, making its summer home in the interior of North America and wintering in southern South America. It differs from the other two also in being less pelagic and more terres- trial; it is seldom, if ever, seen on the oceans, being a bird of the inland marshes; and it prefers to spend more time walking about on land, or wading in shallow water, than swimming on the water. Hence its bill, neck and legs are longer, and its feet less lobed. It is a more normal shore bird.
Spring—The spring migration seems to be directly northward from the west coasts of South America, through Central America, to the Mississippi Valley on one hand and to California on the other. Although it usually arrives in Manitoba during the first
WILSON PHALAROPE 29
week in May, sometimes as early as April 27, I have found it com- mon in Texas as late as May 17. Wilson phalarope are often asso- ciated with northern phalaropes on migrations, sometimes in con- siderable flocks, frequenting the temporary ponds made by heavy spring rains on the grassy meadows, rather than the larger ponds and lakes. The first arrivals are usually females, followed later by mixed flocks of both sexes, which soon scatter and separate into small parties of two or three pairs.
Courtship—The pursuit courtship is thus described by Rev. P. B. Peabody (1903) :
For some three weeks after their arrival, these birds gladden landscape and water scape, in care-free abandon. They are ever on the move, afoot or awing; and during these three weeks of junketing, the unique courtship is earried on. There is no more laughable sight, to one endowed with a modicum of the sense of humor, than that of a couple, or even three, of the brightly colored females, ardently chasing a single somber-plumaged male, who turns and darts, here and there, in arrowy flights apparently much bored by the whole performance. Meanwhile, the sometimes dangling feet and the ever tremulous wings of the amorous females bespeak an ardor that would be ridiculous, under the cir- cumstances, were it not so desperately in earnest.
Dr. E. W. Nelson (1877), on the other hand, writes:
At these times the nearest aproach to pursuit is in a habit they have of suddenly darting off for a short distance at right angles to their general course, but this appears to be in mere sport, for nearly the same relative positions are kept by the birds, and this erratic course is rarely pursued beyond a few rods. In fact, throughout the pairing season I have always found the phala- ropes very undemonstrative toward each other, the choice of mates being con- ducted in a quiet, unobtrusive way, quite unlike the usual manner among birds. The only demonstrations I have observed during the pairing time consist of a kind of solemn bowing of the head and body; but sometimes, with the head lowered and thrust forward, they will run back and forth in front of the object of their regard, or again a pair may often be seen to salute each other by alternately bowing or lowering their heads; but their courtship is characterized by a lack of rivalry and vehemence usually exhibited by birds. A male is often accompanied by two females at first, but as soon as his choice is made the rejected bird joins her fortunes with some more impressible swain.
During my various seasons spent on the western plains I have frequently seen these phalaropes flying about in trios, consisting of one male and two females, the male always in the lead, as if pur- sued. Females apparently outnumber the males; and, as nest build- ing and incubation are entirely performed by the male, many of the females must remain unattached and unable to breed. I have actually seen the male building the nest and have never been able to flush a female from a set of eggs or a brood of young.
W. Leon Dawson (1923) writes:
‘We have already acknowledged that Mrs. Wilson wears the breeches and that she is more inclined to club life than she is to household cares. The
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case is, however, much more serious than we had at first suspected. I owe the original intimation of the true state of affairs to Mr. A. O. Treganza, the veteran oologist of Salt Lake City; and subsequent investigation of my own has abundantly confirmed his claims. Mrs. Wilson is a bigamist. Not occasionally, and of course not invariably, but very usually she maintains two establishments. Now that attention is called to it, we see that our note- books are full of references to female phalaropes seen in company with two males. The association can not be accidental, for we are in the very midst of the breeding season. The males, frightened by our presence in the swamp, and not daring to remain longer upon their eggs, have sought the comforting presence of the head of their house. The three take counsel together, and it is only when the redoubtable lady announces that the way is clear that the dutiful cuckolds trail off to their nests. On the 6th and 7th of June, 1922, our M. C. O. party of three members gave close attention to a swamp in Long Valley, southern Mono County, at an altitude of 7,000 feet. We took 11 sets, of four eggs each, of the Wilson phalaropes, and we noted a distinct tendency of the nests to group themselves in pairs. In only one instance, however, were we able to trace clearly a connection between two occupied nests. These two, containing heavily incubated eggs, were situated only 42 feet apart, and the two males who were flushed from them by a sur- prise coup of ours joined themselves immediately to the only female who had shown any solicitude concerning this section of the swamp.
Nesting —The Wilson phalarope is regarded by some egg collectors as an exasperating bird, because they have some difficulty in finding its nest. The nest is surprisingly well concealed, often in what seems to be scanty vegetation; and the eggs are good examples of protective coloration. I remember once crossing a moist meadow, covered with short grass which had been mowed the previous season; a male phalarope flushed from almost under foot, I threw down my hat to mark the spot and started hunting for the nest. I hunted in vain, until I gave it up and picked up my hat; there was the nest, with four eggs in it, under the hat and in plain sight.
In southwestern Saskatchewan in 1905 and 1906, we found some half dozen or more nests of this species, between June 8 and July 18. The nests were on the wet or moist meadows about the lakes and sloughs or on marshy islands; some of the nests were in practically plain sight in short grass; others were more or less well concealed in longer grass, which was sometimes arched over them; they were always difficult to find unless the incubating male was flushed. The nests were merely hollows in the damp ground, three or four inches in diameter, either scantily or well lined with dry grass.
Doctor Nelson (1877) gives a very good description of the behavior of these birds on their nesting grounds, as follows:
Incubation is attended to by the male alone. The female, however, keeps near, and is quick to give the alarm upon the approach of danger. The females are frequently found at this time in small parties of six or eight; and should their breeding ground be approached, exhibit great anxiety, coming from
every part of the marsh to meet the intruder, and, hovering over his head, utter a weak nasal note, which can be heard to only a short distance.
*
WILSON PHALAROPE 31
The movements of the birds usually render it an easy matter to decide whether or not they have nests in the immediate vicinity. After the first alarm, those haying nests at a distance disperse, while the others take their course in the form of an ellipse, sometimes several hundred yards in length, with the object of their suspicion in the center; and, with long strokes of their wings, much like the flight of a killdeer, they move back and forth. As their nests are approached the length of their flight is gradually lessened, until at last they are joined by the males, when the whole party hover low over the intruder’s head, uttering their peculiar note of alarm. At this time they have an ingenious mode of misleading the novice, by flying off to a short distance and hovering anxiously over a particular spot in the marsh, as though there were concealed the objects of their solicitation. Should they be followed, however, and a search be there made, the maneuver is repeated in another place still farther from the real location of the nest. But should this ruse prove unavailing, they return and seem to become fairly desperate, flying about one’s head almost within reach, manifesting great distress.
Aretas A. Saunders writes to me that, in Teton County, Mont., they nest in small colonies in grassy marshes, where alkaline soil prevents the grass, mainly species of Carex and Juncus, from growing tall.
Eggs—The Wilson phalarope almost invariably lays four eggs, rarely only three. The shapes vary from ovate pyriform to ovate and there is a slight gloss. The ground colors vary from “cartridge buff ” to “ cream buff,” rarely “chamois.” The ground color is gen- erally well concealed by numerous markings, more or less evenly distributed. Some eggs are uniformly covered with small spots and dots, but more often these are mixed with a few larger, irregular blotches. An occasional handsome set is boldly and very heavily blotched, sometimes almost concealing the ground color. The mark- ings are usually in very dark, brownish black or blackish brown. In some handsome sets these dark markings are mixed with “bay” and “auburn” markings. The measurements of 57 eggs average 33 by 23.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 36.2 by 23.7, 33 by 25.1, 30 by 22.5 and 30.5 by 22 millimeters.
Young.—tThe period of incubation does not seem to be known. I can find no evidence that the female ever takes any part in it, but that she does not lose interest in her family is plainly shown by her demonstrations of anxiety when the nest is approached; probably she feels responsible for the faithful performance of his duties by her demure spouse. The male broods over the newly hatched young, protecting them from rain, or excessive heat or cold. But they are soon able to run about in a lively manner and care for themselves. Doctor Nelson (1877) writes that “the young have a fine, wiry peep, inaudible beyond a few feet.” I believe that the young remain in the grassy meadows, where they can hide in safety, and do not take to the water until they are fully fledged.
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Plumages.—In its natal down the young Wilson phalarope is entirely unlike the other phalaropes and quite different from any other young wader. The slender bill and long slender legs and feet are characteristic. It is prettily and distinctively colored also. The prevailing color of the upper parts and of a band across the chest is “ochraceous buff,” deepening on the crown, wings, and mantle almost to “ ochraceous orange,” and paling to buffy or grayish white on the belly and to pure white on the chin and throat. There is a narrow, median, black line on the crown extending nearly or quite to the bill; this is continued in a broad, more or less broken, black stripe down the center of the back to a large black patch on the ‘rump; a black spot on each side of the crown, one on the occiput and several more on wings, thighs, and sides of the back, sometimes run together to form stripes.
In fresh juvenal plumage, in July, the feathers of the crown, back, scapulars, tertials, and all wing coverts are dusky or nearly black, broadly edged with “light pinkish cinnamon” or “ cinnamon buff,” broadest and brightest on the scapulars; the under parts are white, but the throat, sides of the breast and flanks are washed with “pinkish buff,” and the last two are mottled with dusky; the central tail feathers are broadly edged with “ pinkish buff,” bordered in- wardly with a broad dusky band, surrounding a white area, with a dusky central streak invading it; the other tail feathers are simi- larly marked, but less completely patterned.
This plumage is worn for only a short time, as the body plumage and tail are molted during the last half of July and in August. By September young birds are in first winter plumage, which is like that of the adult, except that the entire juvenal wing is retained with the buff edgings faded out to white. The sexes are alike in juvenal and all winter plumages. A partial prenuptial molt in the spring, involving the body plumage and most, if not all, of the wing coverts and scapulars, makes the young bird practically adult.
Adults have a partial prenuptial molt in April and May, involv- ing the tail, the wing coverts and all the body plumage, which pro- duces the well-known brilliant plumage of the female and the duller plumage of the male. The complete postnuptial molt in summer pro- duces the gray winter plumage in both sexes, in which the crown, back, and scapulars are “light drab” or “ drab-gray,” with narrow white edgings, and the upper tail coverts, as well as the under parts, are white. The sexes can be recognized in adult winter plumage by size only.
Food.—The other two species of phalaropes feed mainly on the water, but the Wilson phalarope is more of a shore bird and obtains most of its food while walking about on muddy shores or wading
WILSON PHALAROPE 33
in shallow water. It does, however, adopt the whirling tactics of the others occasionally, concerning which Mr. Dawson (1928) says:
Instead of swinging from side to side with a rhythmical motion, as do the reds and northerns, the Wilson whirls all the way around. Moreover, he keeps on whirling, and though he pauses for the fraction of a second to inspect his chances, he goes on and on again like an industrious, mad clock. One bird which I had under the binoculars turned completely around 247 times in one spot, without stopping save for instantaneous dabs at prey. These dabs were directed forward or backward, i. e., with or against the direction of the body motion. A single gyration normally contains two such minute pauses, accompanied by a hitching motion of the head; and these are evidently the periods of maximum attention, since they are followed by, or _rather flow into, the prey stroke, if game is sighted. ‘‘Game” is not always abundant nor certain, and I have seen a bird whirl a dozen times without a single stroke.
The method of feeding on mud flats or in shallow water is well described by Roland C. Ross (1924), as follows:
When feeding along the shallows with least, western, and red-backed sand- pipers, they differed from them not only in size and color, but in their habit of steady, energetic walking and the constant “side sweeping” with the Dill. Occasionally they picked objects from the surface with their needle bills, but this was not very actively pursued. In deeper water they fed among the northern phalaropes, knots, and dowitchers, wading along until they swam in places. However, they were able to wade where the northern swam. At such depths they feed with the head clear under and the energy of the feeding operation was indicated by the motion of the tail. They commonly walked steadily back and forth through the deeper sections of the ponds, and in such deep places they moved as headless bodies. evidently feeding as usual in the surface mud. From the vigorous side moves of the tail it would seem they were feeding in their usual manner as well; that is, “side sweeping.” When the birds were standing to feed in the deeper places the tail was again much in evidence, and indicated the manner of feeding. This would seem to be a probing motion performed with some rapid vibration which was communi- cated to the tail as a series of quivers. It is rather a droll sight, and arrest- ing as well, to see a certain area marked out by headless gray bodies buried in the water up to the bend of the wing, the vibrating tail indicating the vigorous operations being carried on down below. It seemed their best feeding was in the deeper waters.
The feeding habits of this and the other phalaropes are almost wholly beneficial. They live very largely on the larvae of mos- quitoes. They also eat crane-fly larvae, which are often very de- structive in grass lands and wheat fields. Predaceous diving beetles, which are a nuisance in fish hatcheries, are eaten by them. Dr. Alexander Wetmore’s (1925) analysis of the contents of 106 stomachs showed that the food of the Wilson phalarope is mainly insects, of which various flies made up 48.1 per cent, aquatic bugs 24.4 per cent and beetles 20.1 per cent. The remainder of the food included brine shrimps, amphipods, eggs of water fleas, and seeds of various aquatic plants.
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Behavior—Much of the interesting behavior of the Wilson phala- ropes has been described under different headings above. In all its movements it is light, airy and graceful. Its flight is much like that of the lesser yellow legs, with which it is often associated; but, when suddenly alarmed, it sometimes flies hurriedly away in a zig- zag fashion. On its breeding grounds it often hovers, almost motion- less in the air, as the upland plover sometimes does. It swims lightly and buoyantly, but apparently does not dive. It walks about on land actively and daintly, where it is said to resemble the solitary sandpiper. It mingles freely on its feeding grounds with various other species of shore birds. Toward the close of the nesting season the females become very gregarious; as early as June 18, in southern Alberta, we saw them in large flocks, mixed with lesser yellow legs, flying about the marshy lakes.
Voice-——The only note I have recorded is a soft, nasal grunt or subdued quack. Dr. Walter P. Taylor (1912) describes a peculiar nuptial (?) call note “as o#t, ott, oit, somewhat resembling the croak of a toad during the breeding season. At the instant of utterance of the note the bird which is calling raises its head somewhat, pauses momentarily in its flight, and its throat bulges slightly.” Mr. Saun- ders calls it a low note sounding like eroo, croo, croo.
E. 8. Cameron (1907) writes:
The Wilson’s phalaropes, both when feeding and when disturbed and circling on the wing, constantly uttered a low croaking, which at close quarters might be compared to the much louder note of the sandhill cranes, or, at a distance, to the faintly heard barking of a dog. On the other hand, I have heard them give a shrill and totally different call of indecision or satisfaction on their first arrival when hovering over a pool.
Field marks.—The Wilson is larger than the other phalaropes and has a longer bill, neck, and legs. It can be distinguished from other shore birds by its needlelike bill and small head and by the absence of white in its wings. Its spring plumage is, of course, well marked and very beautiful. John T. Nichols gives me the following field characters:
Very rare, but apparently regular on the south shore of Long Island in southward migration; those that I have known of have all been in pale gray and white plumage occurring singly about the marshes in flocks of the lesser yellow legs. Little smaller than that species, they are to be picked out in a flock of same at once by their much paler color. In alighting such a bird may swim on puddles of water between the stubble where the others are wading. At short range the long, straight, very slender bill and indications of a curved “phalarope”’ mark on the neck, backward and downward from the eye, are to be looked for. Large size and long, very slender bill should prevent confusion of this with other phalaropes in the field in any plumage.
Fall.—As soon as the young are able to care for themselves the males join the flocks of females and they all depart on their fall
WILSON PHALAROPE 35
migration in August. Some individuals wander eastward to the Atlantic coast, but the main flight is southward along both coasts of Mexico to their winter home in Argentina, Chile, and Patagonia.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—North and South America.
Breeding range.—The breeding range of Wilson’s phalarope ex- tends north to Washington (Bumping Lake); Alberta (Alix, Buf- falo Lake, and Edmonton) ; Saskatchewan (Osler, Quill Lake, and Indian Head); Manitoba (Moose Mountain, Brandon, and Shoal Lake); North Dakota (Pembina); Minnesota (probably Leech Lake); Michigan (St. Clair Flats); and southern Ontario (Dunn- ville). East to southern Ontario (Dunnville); northern Indiana (Lake County) ; northern illinois (West Northfield, Fox River, and Calumet Marshes); and formerly Missouri (Pierce). South to Indiana (Whiting); Missouri (formerly Pierce); rarely southern Kansas (Meade County); Colorado (Sterling, Barr, and San Luis Valley); southwestern Wyoming (Fort Bridger); northern Utah (Salt Lake City); Nevada (Washoe Lake) ; and California (Tahoe Lake and Los Banos). West to California (Los Banos, Lassen County, and Tule Lake) ; Oregon (Klamath Lake) ; and Washington (Conconully and Bumping Lake). It also has been reported in summer from southern California (Furnace Creek and Tulare Lake) and from central Mexico (Lerma).
Winter range—The winter range of the Wilson phalarope is very imperfectly known. The few records available come chiefly from South America, but it also has been reported as wintering in Mexico (Mayorazgo, Ixtapalapa, and the City of Mexico); rarely southern Texas (Corpus Christi); and in southern California (Riverside). South American specimens have been taken or observed at this sea- son in the Falkland Islands; Patagonia (Chupat) ; Argentina (Men- doza, Buenos Aires, Tucuman, Barracas al Sud, and Missiones) ; Chile (Valdivia) ; Bolivia (Alto Paraguay) ; Peru (Ingapirca) ; and Brazil (Caicara).
Spring migration—Early dates of spring arrival are: Missouri, St. Louis, April 22, Corning, April 23, Independence, May 1, and Marionville, May 2; Illinois, Quincy, April 20, Chicago, April 21, Liter, April 27, Fernwood, May 1, and South Englewood, May 8; Indiana, Waterloo, April 27, and Kouts, April 30; Michigan, Ann Arbor, April 1, Detroit, May 1, and Iron Mountain, May 2; Ontario, Toronto, May 25; Iowa, Emmetsburg, April 24, Gilbert Station, April 27, Marshalltown, May 2, Sioux City, May 5, and Keokuk, May 6; Wisconsin, Delavan, April 26, North Freedom, April 29, and Whitewater, May 6; Minnesota, Heron Lake, May 8, Wilder,
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May 8, Hallock, May 9, and Waseca, May 12; northern Texas, Gainesville, May 6, and Huntsville, May 7; Kansas, Emporia, April 23, Paola, April 28, Onaga, April 29, and Wichita, April 30; Ne- braska, Dunbar, April 5, Badger, April 18, Callaway, April 19, Lincoln, April 22, and Valentine, May 1; South Dakota, Harrison, April 29, Vermilion, April 29, Forestburg, May 1, Pitrodie, May 3, and Huron, May 4; North Dakota, Menoken, May 1, Bismarck, May 3, Charlson, May 4, Antler, May 10, Cando, May 17, and West- hope, May 18; Manitoba, Oak Lake, April 27, Shoal Lake, May %, Reaburn, May 16, and Winnipeg, May 22; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 12, Dinsmore, May 18, and Osler, May 19; New Mexico, Albuquerque, April 20, and Aragon, April 21; Arizona, Tucson, April 12; Colorado, Denver, April 25, Durango, April 25, Loveland, April 27, Boulder, May 8, and Salida, May 4; Wyoming, Lake Como, May 6, near Cokeville, May 7, Yellowstone Park; May 11, and Cheyenne, May 19; Idaho, Meridian, May 14; Montana, Billings, April 30, Great. Falls, May 9, Fort Keogh, May 10, Big Sandy, May 14, and Terry, May 21; Alberta, Beaverhill Lake, May 7, Alliance, May 18, Veteran, May 22, and Stony Plain, May 23; Cali- fornia, Santa Barbara, April 26, Unlucky Lake, April 28, and Stockton, May 2; Nevada, Steptoe Valley, May 12, Washoe Lake, May 19, and Quinn River, May 20; and Oregon, Klamath Lake, April 30, Narrows, May 1, and Lawen, May 20.
Fall migration—tLate dates of fall departure are: Oregon, Mal- heur Lake, September 5; California, Santa Barbara, September 8, and near San Francisco, September 9; Montana, Milk River, July 21, and Great Falls, August 15; Utah, Great Salt Lake, September 16; Wyoming, Seven-mile Lake, September 14, and Yellowstone Park, September 27; Colorado, Denver, September 12; Arizona, Fort Verde, September 7; Saskatchewan, Ravine Bank, August 25; North Dakota, Grafton, September 11, and Westhope, September 24; South Dakota, Forestburg, August 13, Harrison, September 12, and Sioux Falls, October 14; Nebraska, Badger, August 30, and Gresham, September 1; Kansas, Emporia, August 31; Texas, Tivoli, September 14, and Corsicana, September 12; Minnesota, Lanesboro, September 13; Michigan, Kalamazoo County, September 8; and Ontario, near Toronto, September 23.
Casual records—Although essentially a western species the Wil- son phalarope has many times been detected in eastern localities. Among these are: Alabama, Bayou la Batre, September 5, 1911; South Carolina, Sullivans Island, September 7, 1910; North Caro- lina, near Church Island, August 25, 1910, and Currituck Light House, September 14, 1911; New Jersey, Ocean City, May 19, 1898, and Cape May, May 4, 1909; New York, Mastic, September 21,
WILSON PHALAROPE 3
1918, and August 23, 1920, Shinnecock, August 20, 1883, and August 15, 1885, Far Rockaway, October 10, 1874, East River, October 15, 1879, Onondaga Lake, September 2, 1886, Oneida Lake, October 6, 1883, Ithaca, fall of 1892, Atlanticville, August 15, 1885, and June 1, 1887, and Bronx Park, September 21, 1924; Connecticut, Bridge- port (Linsley); Rhode Island, Newport, August 2, 1880, August 20, 1883 and September 18, 1886, Sakonnet, August 24, 1899, and Quonochontaug, August 28, 1909; Massachusetts, Chatham, October 19, 1888, Nantucket, August 31, 1889, Nahant, May, 1874, Salisbury and Boston (Townsend); New Hampshire, Rye Beach, August 15, 1872; Maine, Sabattus Pond, September or October, 1906, and Scar- borough, June 9, 1881; and Quebec, Montreal, August, 1869. It also has been taken in British Columbia, Chilliwack, September 9, 1888, and Osoyoos Lake, May 15, 1922 and May 18,.1922. It has been detected a few times in Lower California, La Paz (date ?), and San Jose del Cabo, one in spring and another in August, 1887.
Egg dates—Saskatchewan and Alberta: 51 records, May 16 to June 24; 26 records, June 5 to 11. Dakotas: 23 records, May 25 to June 22; 12 records, June 3 to 12. Colorado and Utah: 20 records, May 15 to July 10; 10 records, May 25 to June 8. California: 50 records, May 21 to June 22; 25 records, June 2 to 7.
Family RECURVIROSTRIDAH, Avocets and Stilts RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA Gmelin AMERICAN AVOCET HABITS
Wherever this large, showy bird is found it is always much in evidence. Its large size and conspicuous colors could hardly be overlooked, even if it were shy and retiring; but its bold, aggressive manners force it upon our attention as soon as we approach its haunts. Localities and conditions best suited to its needs are still to be found in many places on the great plains and in the interior valleys of the far west. Its favorite resorts seem to be the shallow, muddy borders of alkaline lakes, wide open spaces of extensive marshes, where scanty vegetation gives but little concealment, or broad wet meadows splashed with shallow pools. If the muddy pools are covered with reeking scum, attracting myriads of flies, so much the better for feeding purposes. Dry, sun-baked mud flats or low, gravelly or sandy islands, with scanty vegetation, furnish the de- sired nesting conditions. In such open spaces they can be seen from afar and, long before we reach their haunts, the avocets are flying out to meet us, advertising the fact that we are approaching their home, making the air ring with their loud yelping notes of protest, circling about us and darting down at us in threatening plunges.
54267—27——4
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Courtship.—Prof. Julian 8. Huxley (1925), who has made a study of the European species, says:
The avocet has no courtship. There are no songs or aerial displays; no posturing by the male; no mutual ceremonies; no special courtship notes. There is some hostility and fighting; a peculiar action by the female which is a symbol of readiness to pair, followed by an excited action on the part of the male; and a special post-paring action by both birds; but of courtship in any accepted sense none whatever.
However that may be, our bird does indulge in actions and pos- turings which look very much like courtship. On May 29, 1905, we spent some time in watching the avocets in a colony on an alkali flat covered with a sparse growth of short, curly grass, near Hay Lake in southwestern Saskatchewan. We could not find any nests there at that time and concluded that the birds had not laid. They were apparently still conducting their courtships, wading about eracefully in the shallow water, frequently bowing or crouching down close to the water; sometimes they danced about with wings widespread, tipping from side to side like a balancing tight-rope walker; occasionally one, perhaps a female in an attitude of invi- tation, would lie prostrate on the ground or water for a minute or more, with the head and neck extended and wings outstretched. Frequently they fooled us by squatting down on the ground, as if sitting on a, nest; if we went to investigate, they would run away and repeat the act elsewhere; perhaps this act carried the suggestion of mating as a part of the courtship ceremony.
Nesting.—We found no large breeding colonies in Saskatchewan but several small ones. The Hay Lake colony referred to above was perhaps the largest, containing 15 or 20 pairs. The nests, found here on June 15, were merely slight hollows in the sun-baked mud on the broad alkali flats bordering the shallow lake; they were scat- tered widely among the little tufts of short grass which scantily covered the flat; the hollows measured from 38 to 4 inches in diameter and were lined with a few dry grasses. Some of the nests were well formed and somewhat elevated. Although in plain sight, the eggs were not easy to find, as they matched their surroundings perfectly.
On June 14, 1906, we found an interesting little colony of avocets on an island in Big Stick Lake, Saskatchewan, which was also occu- pied by big colonies of California and ring-billed gulls, common terns, a few spotted sandpipers, and a few pairs of ducks. The avocets, terns, and sandpipers were all at one end of the island, a low grassy point; the ring-billed gulls and ducks were in the central, highest part; and the California gull colony was at the other end. The avocets’ nests, ten or a dozen of them, were placed in the short grass near the edge of the beach or on the drift weed lying in wind-
AMERICAN AVOCET 39
rows on the beach; one nest was partially under a fallen shrub or bushy weed. The nests were made of grasses, weed stems, straws and small sticks, with sometimes a few feathers, loosely arranged around small hollows, from 5 to 7 inches in diameter. T'wo of the nests held five eggs, the others three or four.
Robert B. Rockwell (1912) found an interesting colony of avocets on an island in Barr Lake, Colo., of which he says:
The nests were all located in very similar locations, among a young growth of cockle burrs not over six inches in height and which had probably grown at least half of that since the eggs were laid. The cockle burrs formed a belt about 10 yards wide clear around the island just below the dense blue-stem and other rank grass with which the island was covered and on ground that was under water during the high water of the spring although inundated for a short time only. Two of the nests were very crude affairs, being a mere shallow hollow in the sand with a very few dead weed stalks of short lengths arranged around the eggs. The other was constructed in the same manner, but was quite well lined with weed stems, so that the eggs did not touch the ground. There was no evident attempt at concealment, the nests all being placed in small open spaces from six inches to a foot in diameter, and with nothing to protect them; but the color of the eggs was sufficient protection to make them quite inconspicuous.
Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1925) writes:
The sites chosen often are subject to inundation by sudden floods, when the birds scurry about, seemingly in confusion, but in reality working actively to build up the nest in order to support the eggs above the level of the encroach- ing water. In some cases it may be necessary to erect a structure 12 or 15 inches in height. Weeds, small sticks, bones, or ‘dried bodies of ducks or other birds, feathers, or any other materials available are utilized as building materials.
Eggs.—The American avocet lays three or four eggs, usually four and occasionally five. Numerous nests have been found containing seven or eight eggs, but these are probably products of two females. Edwin Beaupré writes to me that, in a colony of five pairs found by him on an island in a small lake in southern Alberta, the five pairs were occupying three nests; one contained eight eggs, another seven and the third four. The eggs vary in shape from ovate (rarely) to ovate pyriform and they are usually much elongated. The shel! is smooth, but not glossy. The ground color varies from “ Isabella color” to “deep olive buff.” This is more or less evenly covered with irregular spots and blotches, in various sizes, of brownish black, blackish brown, or black, rarely “‘warm sepia” or “bister”; there are occasionally a few blackish scrawls, and numerous underlying spots of various shades of drab. The measurements of 55 eggs aver- age 49.8 by 34 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 56.3 by 34.6, 51.5 by 36.6, 43.2 by 33.4 and 47 by 31 milli- meters.
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Young.—The period of incubation of the American bird has appar- ently not been determined, but that of the European bird is said to be 28 days. I have no data as to how the sexes incubate. Young avocets are very precocial and leave the nest soon after hatching. They are expert at hiding, even on the open flats and beaches; and they take to the water at an early age, where they can swim and dive like young ducks. I have seen a brood of four young, that could not have been hatched more than a few hours, swimming out in a lake, as if very much at ease. They soon learn to tip up in shallow water and probe on the bottom, like their parents, for their insect food.
Plumages.—The downy young avocet is well colored for conceal- ment on an open beach or alkaline flat. The colors of the upper parts are “cinnamon buff,” “cream buff,’ and buffy grays, lightest on the crown and darkest on the rump; there is a distinct but narrow loral stripe of black; the crown is indistinctly spotted with dusky. Two parallel stripes of brownish black distinctly mark the scapulars and two more the sides of the rump; the wings, back, rump, and thighs are less distinctly spotted or peppered with gray and dusky. The under parts are buffy white, nearly pure white on the throat and belly.
In fresh juvenal plumage the crown is “light drab ” with “ pinkish buff ” tips; the sides and back of the neck are deep, rich “ cinnamon,” deeper and richer than in the adult, shading off, on the upper back, throat, and upper breast, to a suffusion of “pinkish buff”; the chin and belly are white; the color pattern of the upper parts is similar to that of the adult, except that the dark feathers of the back, scapulars, and tertials are tipped with “pinkish buff”; and the ereater and median wing coverts are narrowly so tipped.
This plumage is worn through the summer and fall without much change except by extensive fading and some wear. The cinnamon has nearly disappeared in September birds and all the buff edgings have faded or worn away. <A body molt takes place in late winter or early spring which produces a first nuptial plumage much like the adult. Young birds can, however, be recognized by the worn primaries and by some of the juvenal scapulars and wing coverts. The first postnuptial molt, the following summer, is complete and produces the adult winter plumage.
Adults have a complete postnuptial molt, beginning in Aucust, and a partial prenuptial molt, beginning in January, which involves the body plumage and some of the scapulars and wing coverts. The “cinnamon” colors of the head and neck are characteristic of the nuptial plumage and are replaced by pale gray in winter adults.
Food.—The feeding habits of the avecet are rather peculiar, as might be expected of a bird with such a peculiar bill. The bill is
AMERICAN AVOCET 41
not so sharply upturned in life, as it is in some stuffed specimens and insome drawings. Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1891) has explained it very well, as follows:
The use of the avocet’s recurved bill is clearly explained by the manner in which the bird procures its food. In feeding they wade into the water and drop the bill below the surface until the convexity of the maxilla probably touches the bottom. In this position they move forward at a half run and with every step the bill is swung from side to side sweeping through an are of about 50° in search of sheils and other small aquatic animals, The mandibles are slightly opened, and at times the birds pause to swallow their prey. It is evident that birds with a straight or a downward curved bill could not adopt this method of feeding.
Audubon (1840) describes it, as follows:
They search for food precisely in the manner of the roseate spoonbill, mov- ing their heads to and fro sideways, while their bill is passing through the soft mud; and in many instances, when the water was deeper, they would immerse their whole head and a portion of the neck, as the spoonbill and red-breasted snipe are wont to do. When, on the contrary, they pursued aquatie insects, such as swim on the surface, they ran after them, and on getting up to them, suddenly seized them by thrusting the lower mandible beneath them, while the other was raised a good way above the surface, much in the manner of the black shear water, which, however, performs this act on wing. They were also expert at catching flying insects, after which they ran with partially expanded wings.
Doctor Wetmore (1925) found that, in 67 stomachs examined, ani- mal food amounted to 65.1 per cent and vegetable food 34.9 per cent. Among the animal food were found phyllopods, dragonfly nymphs, back swimmers, water boatmen, various beetles and flies and their larvae. The vegetable matter consisted largely of seeds of marsh or aquatic plants. He says further:
Flocks of the birds search for food scattered about in shallow water, and do not hesitate to swim when necessary in crossing the deeper channels. Fre- quently a dozen or more feed in company, walking slowly along, shoulder to shoulder, as though in drill formation, at each forward step thrusting the head under water and sweeping the recurved bill along the bottom with a seythelike swing that must arouse consternation among water boatmen and other aquatic denizens of the bays and ponds. At times the writer has observed as many as 300 of these handsome birds feeding thus in a single company, a scene at once spirited and striking. As the birds feed much of the time by immersing the head, anything that may touch the-bill is gathered indiscrimi- nately, as in feeding they depend upon the sense of touch. From their manner of feeding, avocets are often scavengers, taking living or recently dead prey without much choice. The large tapeworms found almost without fail in the duodenum of the avocet are transmitted from one bird to another in this man- ner. The cast-off terminal segments of the worms (bearing the eggs) are picked up and swallowed by other avocets, a proceeding which the writer has personally observed. Avocets also pick up matter floating in the water, on or near the surface, or take insects and seeds from mud bars. The insects may be those living in such localities or may be individuals that have been washed up in drift.
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Other observers have reported avocets as feeding on grasshoppers, predaceous diving beetles, crickets, centipedes, weevils, small snails, sea slugs, small crustaceans, and even small fishes.
Behavior.—Avocets are at all times tame and unsuspicious, very solicitous and aggressive on their breeding grounds, quiet and indif- ferent at other times, showing only mild curiosity. Their demonstra- tions of anxiety on their nesting grounds, particularly if they have young, are amusing and ludicrous. Utterly regardless of their own safety, they meet the intruder more than half way and stay with him till he leaves. W. Leon Dawson (1909) has described it very graphically, as follows:
The mother bird had flushed at a hundred yards, but seeing our position she flew toward us and dropped into the water some 50 feet away. Here she lifted a black wing in simulation of maimed stiffness, and flopped and floundered away with the aid of the other one. Seeing that the ruse failed, she ventured nearer and repeated the experiment, lifting now one wing and now both in token of utter helplessness. After a while the male joined her, and we had the painful spectacle of a crippled family, whose members were uttering most doleful cries of distress, necessitated apparently by their numerous aches and breaks. Once, for experiment’s sake, we followed, and the waders flopped along in manifest delight coaxing us up on shore and making off through the sagebrush with broken legs and useless wings. But we came back, finding it better to let the birds make the advances. The birds were driven to the very limit of frenzy, dancing, wing trailing, swaying, going through last convulsions and beginning over again without regard to logical sequence, all in an agony of effort to divert attention from those precious eggs. As time elapsed, however, the color of the play changed. Finding that the appeal of cupidity was of no avail, the birds appeared to fall back upon the appeal to pity. Decoying was useless, that was plain; so they stood with upraised wings, quivering and moaning, in tenderest supplication. It was too much even for conscious rectitude and we withdrew abashed.
The flight of the avocet is strong, direct and rather swift, much like that of the greater yellow legs, with neck and legs fully ex- tended, fore and aft. It can alight on or rise from the surface of the water with ease. On alighting its long, black and white wings are raised above its back, and slowly folded, as it settles itself with a nodding motion of the head, stands still and looks about it for a moment or two. No bird is better equipped for the amphibious existence that it leads; its long legs and webbed feet enable it to wade through soft muddy shallows of varying depths; and if it suddenly steps beyond its depth it swims as naturally as a duck until it strikes bottom again; the thick plumage of its under parts protects it and marks it as an habitual swimmer. It often feeds while swimming by tipping up like a surface-feeding duck and reaching down into the water with its long neck and bill. It can even dive when necessary.
AMERICAN AVOCET 43
Dr. Walter P. Taylor (1912) says that avocets “share with most other birds a dislike of owls. Three were seen pursuing a Speotyto over a wild hay meadow.”
Dr. T. Gilbert Pearson (1916) noted an interesting flight maneuver :
Only a few weeks ago I was impressed anew with the beauty of these birds. While passing down the valley of Crane Creek, in southeastern Oregon, a flock of about 50 avocets arose and indulged in a series of evolutions which even the most casual observer would have paused to watch. In a fairly compact com- pany they flew away for a short distance, then turned, and, after coming back almost to the starting point, dived toward the earth, arose again perhaps 50 yards in the air, then swung around and came back. These maneuvers were repeated at least three times. Their white and black plumage, flashing against the gray sagebrush of the desert mountain side, and sharply relieved as they skimmed over the alkaline creek, made a picture long to be remembered.
Charles E. H. Aiken (1914)
witnessed a curious performance of avocets in Utah. In September, 1895, he visited the mouth of Bear River where hundreds of acres of mud flats and shallow water offer an attractive resort for various water fowl. In a sub- merged grove where patches of mud appeared above the water hundreds of avocets were congregated. One little mud island that differed from others in that it was quite round scemed to have a fascination for the birds, and they were packed together upon it in a mass which covered the island to the water’s edge. As the island was about 12 feet in circumference the number of birds probably approximated 150. This mass of birds continued to revolve about from left to right, and being so crowded the movement was rather slow and their steps short and measured, so that the impression was that they were all marking time in the marching. Birds on the rim of the circle avoided walking off in the water and crowded inward against the mass. Every moment or two birds would leave the milling body and fly to a neighboring mud island, and as many from near-by would fly to take their places and join the dance. Aiken advanced quietly to within 20 yards and viewed them for half an hour, but they continued undisturbed by his presence and he left them so. It appeared to be a diversion of the birds.
John G. Tyler contributes the following:
The avocet is evidently possessed of a very keen sense of hearing. On May 21, 1921, I discovered three or four pairs in an overflowed pasture not far from Fresno. Driving my car up to within about 100 feet of them I allowed my engine to die and sat perfectly motionless. In about 15 minutes the birds had become thoroughly accustomed to my presence and one bird finally took up a position on a small levee, tucked its bill under the feathers of its back, closed its eyes, and after raising the right leg and drawing it up close to the body, stood absolutely motionless and apparently asleep for several minutes. It was very much awake, however, for when I whistled softly through my teeth, making a rather squeaking noise, it immediately straightened up, opened its eyes, and gazed about in apparent astonishment. As I remained motion- less the bird soon settled down and in the course of the next few moments I repeated the same experiment always with the same results. So long as one
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remains seated in the automobile and makes no noticeable movement it is possible to make close observation of these and several other species of shore birds, but the slightest movement or an attempt to get out of the car sends them away in the wildest confusion.
V otce.—The avocet’s vocabulary is not so elaborate as it is impres- sive. The commonest note, heard on the breeding grounds as a note of alarm or protest, is a loud, shrill whistle or yelping scream, which I have recorded in my notes as wheat, wheat, wheat. Others have recorded it as plee-eek, plee-eek, or click, click, click. It is always sharp and vehement, implying anger. I have also heard a softer note, uttered in a conversational tone, like which, whick, whick, or whuck, whuck, whuck.
Aretas A. Saunders contributes the following notes:
About the nest colony the adults flew closely about my head, calling a short staccato call that sounded like pink, pink, pink. One bird pretended wounded in a different manner from what I have seen it done by other species. The bird sat on the water, dropped its head and neck down to the surface, half spread its wings, also dropping them on the water, and, lying almost still, called 00-00, 00-00, 00-00, Over and over, as though suffering great pain. The voice was low and not very loud, and not at all like the pink, pink of the other birds.
Field marks —The avocet, in its striking color pattern of black and white, could not be mistaken for anything else. A white tail, a black V on a white back, black wings with white secondaries and blue legs are all distinctive marks; the buff head and neck are nuptial adornments; in fall and winter these parts are grayish white. Irom the stilt it can be distinguished by its much stockier build, the absence of black on head and neck and by blue instead of pink legs.
Game.—Although it is a large, plump bird and would help to fill a game bag, there is no excuse for treating it as a game bird. It is so tame and so foolishly inquisitive that it would offer poor sport and would soon be exterminated. Furthermore its flesh is said to be worthless for the table. But above all, it is such a showy, hand- some and interesting bird, that it ought to be preserved for future generations to enjoy. The destruction of its breeding grounds will exterminate it soon enough, as it has already been extirpated from its former range in the Eastern Stutes.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—North America to northern Central America.
Breeding range.—The breeding range of the avocet extends north to Washington (Moses Lake and probably Walla Walla); northern Idaho (Pend Oreille) ; Alberta (Red Deer, Buffalo Lake, and Flag- staff); Saskatchewan (Osler, Quill Lake, and Touchwood Hills) ; North Dakota (Kenmare and Cando); Minnesota (Brown’s Valley,
AMERICAN AVOCET 45
Traverse County); and Wisconsin (Green Bay). East to Wisconsin (Green Bay); western Iowa (Sioux City); central Kansas (Larned and Dodge); and rarely to southern Texas (Corpus Christi and Isabel). South rarely to southern Texas (Isabel and Brownsville) ; New Mexico (Chloride) ; northern Utah (Salt Lake City); Nevada (Ruby Valley and probably Cloverdale); and southern California (Little Owens Lake, Kerrville, and Santa Ana). West to California (Santa Ana, Santa Cruz Island, Buena Vista Lake, Tulare Lake, Los Banos, Stockton, Amedee, Tule Lake, and Brownell); Oregon (Adel, Plush, Sumner Lake, and Christmas Lake); and Washing- ton (Moses Lake). It has been recorded in summer north to British Columbia (Okanagan Landing); Manitoba (Brandon); and New York (Ithaca); while there also is an old breeding record for Egg Harbor, New Jersey.
Winter range—North to Carolina (Novato and Stockton); and Texas (Houston). East to Texas (Houston, Corpus Christi, and Brownsville) ; Tamaulipas (Matamoros) ; and Guatemala (Chiapam). South to Guatemala (Chiapam) ; and Sinaloa (Escuinapa). West to Sinaloa (Escuinapa and Mazatlan); Lower California (San Jose del Cabo and La Paz); and California (San Diego, Morro Bay, San Francisco, and Novato.)
Spring migration—KKarly dates of arrival are: Nebraska, Whit- man, April 13, Long Pine, April 27, Alda, May 2, and Lincoln, May 5; South Dakota, Pitrodie, April 28, Huron, May 6, and Aber- deen, May 15; North Dakota, Marstonmoor, April 28; Manitoba, Margaret, May 5; Saskatchewan, Fort Carlston, May 4, and Dins- more, May 9; Arizona, Ehrenburg, February 12, and Tucson, April 21; New Mexico, Albuquerque, April 14; Colorado, Loveland, April 9; and Denver, April 25; Utah, Salt Lake City, April 27; Wyo- ming, Huttons Lake, April 21, Lake Como, April 22, and Cheyenne, April 24; Idaho, Deer Flat, February 15, and Rupert, April 26; Montana, Great Falls, April 18, Fort Custer, April 26, Terry, May 1, Billings, May 3, and Big Sandy, May 18; Alberta, Beaverhill Lake, April 28, and Flagstaff, May 14; Nevada, Ash Meadows, March 15; Oregon, Klamath Falls, March 26, Narrows, April 11, Malheur Lake, April 17, and Lawen, April 19. Avocets have been noted at Lake Palomas, Chihuahua, on April 7, and at Gardner’s Laguna, Lower California, on April 22.
Fall migration—Late dates of departure are: Oregon, Forest Grove, September 28, Malheur Lake, October 26, and Klamath Lake, November 6; Alberta, Veteran, September 8; Montana, Fort Custer, September 9, and Great Falls, October 2; Idaho, Rupert, October 21; Wyoming, Fort Bridger, October 10; Utah, Provo, November 26; Colorado, Denver, October 3, and Mosca, October 20; New Mex-
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ico, Glenrio, October 11, Las Palomas, October 12, and Mesilla Park, November 9; Manitoba, Margaret, September 15; South Dakota, Harrison, October 28; Wisconsin, Waupaca County, October 21; Nebraska, Gresham, September 10, Long Pine, October 9, and Lin- coln, October 27; and Kansas, Emporia, August 25. The arrival of avocets in the fall has been noted in the Valley of Mexico in August and September.
Casual records——The avocet has on a number of occasions been reported or taken at points far outside of its normal range. Some of these records are: Cuba, once in the market at Havana and at Cardenas in August; Jamaica, reported in winter; Barbados, one in the fall of 1880 and again on October 1, 1888; Florida, one killed at Palm Beach Inlet in 1916; Georgia, St. Marys, October 8, 1903; North Carolina, six noted at Fort Macon on September 12, 1870; Virginia, two taken at Wallops Island in September, 1925; New Jersey, Barnegat, May 30, 1880; New York, Ponquoque, one in 1844, Carnarsie Bay, one in 1847, Long Beach, May 20, 1877, near Tucker- ton, last of August, 1886, Renwick, September 16, 1909, and Ithaca, September 16, 1909; Connecticut, near Saybrook, 1871; Massachu- setts, three at Ipswich Neck, September 13, 1896, Lake Cochituate, October 19, 1880, Natick, October 29, 1880, and Salisbury, May 23, 1887; Vermont, St. Albans, fall of 1875; Maine, Cape Elizabeth, November 5, 1878, and Calais, spring of 1862; New Brunswick, Quaco, in 1880; Louisiana, New Orleans, November 12, 1889, and November 7, 1819, Derniere Island, April 16, 1837, and Johnsons Bayou, November 26, 1882; Arkansas, a specimen was taken some time previous to 1847; Missouri, St. Louis, October 28, 1878, and Stotesbury, April 8, 1894; Illinois, St. Clair County, October 28, 1878, and two at Chicago, May 5, 1889; Indiana, one was taken at Calumet Lake; Ohio, St. Marys Reservoir, November 10, 1882, Ober- lin, November 4, 1907, and March 16 to 21, 1907, Sandusky, May 24, 1914, and near Columbus, November 10, 1882; Michigan, St. Clair Flats, in 1874; Ontario, Toronto, last of May, 1881 and September 19, 1901; Mackenzie, Birch Lake, July 15, 1910, and Fort Rae; British Columbia, Okanagan, April 28, 1908, and mouth of the Fraser River, October 20, 1915. Avocets also have been reported from Greenland, but the records lack confirmation.
Egg dates—Saskatchewan: 27 records, May 18 to June 16; 14 records, May 29 to June 14. Utah: 52 records, April 10 to June 15; 26 records, May 6 to 16. California: 35 records, April 22 to June 25; 18 records, May 5 to 29.
BLACK-NECKED STILT 47
HIMANTOPUS MEXICANUS (Miiller) BLACK-NECKED STILT
HABITS
Although I first met the black-necked stilt in the Florida Keys in 19038, it was not until I visited the irrigated regions of the San Joaquin Valley in California in 1914, that I saw this curious bird living in abundance and flourishing in most congenial surroundings. It was a pleasant change from the cool, damp air of the coast region to the clear, dry warmth of this highly cultivated valley. The natu- rally arid plains between the distant mountain ranges had been transformed by irrigation into fertile fields of alfalfa and wheat, vast areas had been flooded with water from the melting snows of the Sierras, forming grazing lands for herds of cattle and endless marshes, wet meadows, ponds and creeks, for various species of water birds. As W. Leon Dawson (1923) puts it:
The magic touch of water following its expected channels quickens an other- wise barren plain into a paradise of avian activities. Ducks of six or seven species frequent the deeper channels; coots and gallinules and pied-billed grebes crowd the sedgy margins of the ponds; herons, bitterns, ibises,and egrets, seven species of Herodiones, all told, occupy the reedy depths of the larger ponds or deploy over the grassy levels. Rails creak and titter, red wings clink, yel- low-headed blackbirds gurgle, wrangle, and screech; while the marsh wrens, familiar spirits of the maze, sputter and chuckle over their quaint basketry. The tricolored blackbirds, also in great silent companies recruited from a hundred acres, charge into their nesting covert with a din of uncanny preoccu- pation. Over the open ponds black terns hover, and Forster terns flit with languid ease. The killdeer is not forgotten, nor the burrowing owl, whose home is in the higher knolls; but over all and above all and through all comes the clamor of the black-necked stilt and the American avocet.
Of all these birds, the stilts were the most conspicuous in the wet meadows about Los Banos, where they were always noisy and aggressive. I have never seen them so abundant elsewhere, though I have seen them in similar situations in Florida and Texas, on extensive wet meadows where shallow water fills the hollows between myriads of little muddy islets and tufts of grass. Here they can wade about and feed in the water or build their nests on the hum- mocks above high-water mark, and here their young can hide suc- cessfully among the grassy tufts.
Nesting —My first glimpse of a black-necked stilt was a complete surprise, and my first nest was in an unexpected situation. On May 8, 1903, we landed on Lake Key, in the Florida Keys, a low flat, open island with sandy shores and a lake in the middle of it. We walked across the beach, through a narrow strip of low red man- grove bushes and came to a little muddy pond, very shallow and dotted with little mangrove seedlings. Here we were delighted to
48 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
see about half a dozen black-necked stilts, long slender birds, very striking in appearance and actions, the jet black wings contrasting finely with the pure white under parts and the long pink legs trailing behind. They seemed so much concerned, so unwilling to leave, and kept up such an incessant racket, that we felt sure that they were nesting there. A short search soon revealed two of their nests, both very conspicuously placed. The first nest, containing four quite heavily incubated eggs, was very prettily located under a little red mangrove root, just as it entered the ground; a hollow had been scraped in the sand and profusely lined with small bits of shell and pieces of dry sticks. The second nest was in plain sight on the open beach of finely broken shell in a small colony of least terns’ nests, the three dark-colored eggs showing up very conspicuously on the white sand. The nest cavity measured six inches outside and four inches inside and was lined with pieces of shell, sticks, and fish bones, an odd and uncomfortable bed for the young. Besides the least terns, Wilson plovers were nesting close by, rather an unusual association for the marsh-loving stilts.
Gilbert R. Rossignol writes to me of a colony of some 23 nests that he found in a somewhat similar location on an island in Lake Kissimmee, Florida, on April 14, 1908. “The nests were all built high upon the gravelly beach and were lined with bits of fresh- water snails.” This colony was wiped out later by a rise of water in the lake.
Herbert W. Brandt has sent me some notes on this species as he found it breeding in Kleberg County, Texas, on May 28, 1919. He found seven nests in a colony of about ten pairs on “a watery, marshy meadow covering about a square mile, the water being 6 to 12 inches deep.” He describes one of the nests as “composed of sticks made up into a floating platform, about four inches high and well made. The lining was smali sticks and the top basin shallow and nicely made. The water, exceedingly high from recent rains, was up to the eggs, so that the nest was wet.” I saw a similar colony near Brownsville, Tex.
Near Los Banos, California, stilts were nesting all over the flooded meadows, on little hummocks, on the muddy islands, and along the margins of ponds. On the drier shores and banks the nests were very simple structures, hollows in the ground, lined with small twigs, weed stems, and grasses; but in the wet places, where they were liable ‘to be flooded, they were quite elaborately elevated to considerable heights. Mr. Dawson (1923) writes:
It is when the water rises that the birds rise to the occasion, and get busy with nest building. Sedges, sticks, water plants with clinging soil, anything movable, is seized and forced under the threatened eggs. Indeed, so appre-
BLACK-NECKED STILT 49
hensive is the bird of the growing necessity, that as often as she leaves the nest she will seize loose material and fling it over her shoulder for future use. The eggs themselves, protectively colored in bister and black, are mauled about and soiled in the mud; but the day is saved. I have seen a stilt, painfully couscious no doubi, squatted on a truncated cone of vegetation 8 inches in height and as broad across the top, a veritable Noah’s ark of satiety.
John G. Tyler (1918) says:
Nesting colonies of these wadels in the Fresno district are never very large, consisting of from 6 to 20 pairs, as a rule, the most extensive one of which I have any knowledge containing an average of about 380 pairs each season. Possibly the numerous smali ponds will not support a great many birds, and as suitable pastures abound in certain sections it is not a difficult matter for all the birds to be accommodated without any crowding. As these nesting colonies of stilts are invariably in pastures with cattle tramping everywhere over the fields, it seems almost a miracle that any of the eggs escape being destroyed; and yet I have not one iota of positive proot of such a disaster ever overtaking a stilt’s nest, while in many instances I have kuown the eggs to hatch safely almost under the feet of stock. It is known that few animals will purposely step on any living object of a size large enough to be noticed, and the writer is convinced that a stilt simply remains on her nest and by her vociferoushess and possibly even with a few vigorous thrusts of her long bill causes a grazing cow to direct her course away from the nest. A lack of judgment causes many nests to be abandoned each year, and a colony of Stilts that are not able to distinguish between a permanent pond and one that has been caused by irrigation is liabie to find that by the time sets of eggs are complete the water has disappeared and a new nesting site must be chosen. Fortunately the larger colonies always seem to be located near the permanent ponds, but there are numerous scattering pairs that are deceived each summer.
I have often been surprised at the great diversity of nesting sites, even in the same colony, it being not an unusual occurrence to find nests entirely sur- rounded by water—litile islands of mud and sticks often built up out of water several inches deep. Not less common are the platforms of dried grass placed just at the water’s edge, or the slight excavations that, killdeerlike, are placed on the bare ground a hundred yards or more from the hearest water. In one colony the majority of the nests were built on a ievee that extended through the pond and were so near the waters edge that, although most of the nests were quite elaborate platforms of dry grass and twigs, the lower parts of the eggs were wet. Undoubtedly a high wind would have caused the wavelets to break over the levee. At this same place there were several nests fur out on the open dry ground without even a spear of grass for concealment or protection, and with hardly a vestige of nesting material under the eggs. At one pond where two pairs had taken up summer quarters there was one nest on the bare black ground where the white breast of the sitting female was the most conspicuous object imaginable and could be seen at a glance from a distance of three or four hundred feet. In direct contrast was the other nest; for it was artfully hidden among rather rank salt grass some distance from the pond, and when the sitting bird flattened herself upon it, as is the custom of this species when endeavoring to escape observation, she might have readily been overlooked from any near-by point.
The actions of different pairs of stilts when their nesting colonies are in- vaded are also variable. Sometimes a flock of noisy screeching birds will press close about the intruder, some hanging in the air on rapidly beating wings,
50 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
others bouncing along the ground by leaps and bounds, raising and lowering their wings continually; while others go through every conceivable motion both on the ground and in the air. It seems that the larger the colony the more demonstrative the birds are; for in several instances where only one or two pairs were breeding the female would sneak from the nest in a guilty manner and quietly join her mate on the opposite side of the pond, where they would remain almost motionless or feed nervously along the margin of the pond.
“'ggs.—¥ our eggs are usually laid by the black-necked stilt, some- times five, rarely seven, and occasionally only three. The shape is ovate, often somewhat pointed, and there is little, if any, gloss. The ground color is dull “honey yellow,” with an olivaceous tinge, or “cream buff.” The eggs are irregularly spotted or covered with small blotches of brownish black or black. Sometimes there are a few blackish scrawls and usually a few underlying small spots of drab. They are often stained with mud. The measurements of 75 eggs, in the United States National Museum, average 44 by 30.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 48 by 30, 47 by 82, 40.5 by 30, and 46 by 28 millimeters.
Young.—tIncubation is shared by both sexes, but we have no accu- rate information as to its duration. Mr. Dawson (1923) says:
The infant can make shift to shuffle away from the nest and into cover within the hour, if need be, but he can not negotiate his stilts until several hours have elapsed after hatching; and he feels decidedly pale and tottery, like a young colt, until the day after.
Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1908) writes:
On May 23, their eggs were hatching, and in June the snipelike young were widely distributed over the marsh. They invariably attempted to escape obser- vation by squatting with neck outstretched, but the parents, whether one approached their eggs or young, expressed their solicitude by a surprising extravagance of motion, all apparently designed to draw attention to themselves. I was at times surrounded by hopping, fluttering stilts, all calling loudly, wav- ing their wings, bounding into the air to hang there with dangling legs and beating pinions, and executing other feats which would have done credit to acrobatic marionettes.
Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1925) says:
The young grow rapidly, and the increase in the length of their legs is amazing. Until the bones are well formed the young, when not feeding, prefer to rest with the full length of the tarsus extended on the ground, but even then appear as tall as other shore birds of similar body size. Stilts show considerable attachment for their young, and, unless dispersed by some untoward accident, frequently remain in family groups long after the young are able to care for themselves. As the latter become strong on the wing the family parties range over the country in search of suitable feeding grounds. As the nights grow cold in the North the birds band together in larger flocks and finally on some moonlit night in September, young and old may be heard calling as they pass overhead on their southward migration.
BLACK-NECKED STILT 51
Plumages.—Robert Ridgway (1919) describes the downy young stilt as follows:
Upper parts light buffy grayish mottled with dusky, the back and rump with several large blotches of black; head, neck, and under parts buffy whitish or brownish white, the crown, occiput, and hindneck grayish, the crown with a mesial streak of black, the occiput with several irregular spots of the same.
The juvenal plumage appears first on the scapulars, back and breast; and the tail is the last to appear. The young bird is fully feathered, except the tail, by the time it is two-thirds grown. In fresh juvenal plumage the color pattern is much like that of the adult female; the crown, hind neck, back and wings are brownish black, all the feathers being edged or tipped with “cinnamon”; the edgings are narrowest on the head, upper back and wing coverts, and broadest on the scapulars and tertials; the face, sides of the head and all under parts are white; the central tail feathers are dusky and the others are white, washed with dusky near the tip, and all tipped with pinkish buff. This plumage is worn all through the fall and winter, with no change except by wear and fading; before winter the edgings have largely disappeared.
A partial prenuptial molt of the body plumage occurs in early spring, when young birds become indistinguishable from adults, except for some retained juvenal wing coverts. Adults probably have a partial prenuptial molt in early spring and a complete post- nuptial molt in late summer, but there are no well marked seasonal differences in plumage.
Food.—Doctor Wetmore (1925) writes:
Stilts feed by picking up insects on muddy shores or in shallow water, and though not averse to frequenting alkaline areas, on the whole prefer fresher water than do avocets. For detailed analysis, 80 stomachs of the black-necked stilt were available, distributed from March to August, and collected in Cali- fornia, Utah, Florida, and Porto Rico. Vegetable food in these amounted tu only 1.1 per cent, whereas the animal matter formed 98.9 per cent. The birds are adept in seizing rapidly moving prey and in general are very methodical in their manner of obtaining food. Gravel is picked up to some extent to aid digestion, and part of the seeds taken may have been swallowed for the same purpose.
The animal food consisted mainly of insects, aquatic bugs and beetles making up the largest items; dragonfly nymphs, caddisflies, mayfly nymphs, flies, billbugs, mosquito larvae, and grasshoppers were included. Crawfishes, snails, and a few tiny fishes were eaten. The vegetable food consisted mainly of a few seeds of aquatic and marsh plants.
Behavior.—The flight of the stilt is steady and direct, but not particularly swift; the bill is held straight out in front and the legs
52 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
are extended backwards, giving the bird a long, slim appearance. Over their eggs or young, stilts sometimes hover on steadily beating wings with dangling legs. In their excitement they sometimes climb up into the air and make startling dives.
But stilts are essentially waders; for wading they are highly specialized, and here they show to best advantage. At times they seem a bit wabbly on their absurdly long and slender legs, notably when trembling with excitement over the invasion of their breeding erounds. But really they are expert in the use of these well-adapted limbs, and one can not help admiring the skillful and graceful way in which they wade about in water breast deep, as well as on dry land, in search of their insect prey. The legs are much bent at each step, the foot is carefully raised and gently but firmly planted again at each Jong stride. The legs are so long that when the bird is feed- ing on land it is necessary to bend the legs backward to enable the bill to reach the ground.
Stilts can swim and even dive if necessary, but they are very awk- ward at both, as might be expected with such long legs and the absence of webbed feet; they never indulge in either action except in cases of dire necessity. They are usually gentle and unsuspicious birds, much more easily approached than most large waders. On their breeding grounds they are especially fearless and demonstra- tive. Some of their amusing antics are well described by Mr. Daw- son (1923) as follows:
While all are shouting lustily, the birds whose nests are more immediately threatened are doing decoy stunts of several fascinating sorts. The favorite line of effort is the broken-leg act, in which the bird collapses suddenly, as though one of its little pipestem legs had snapped in two. The act is performed with such sincerity, even when the bird is standing in only an inch or so of water, that it never ceases to be amusing. Moreover, the trick is repeated diligently every few feet, so that it begins to look as though the bird had taken some fakir vow to prostrate itself every third or fourth step. The avocet, now that one thinks of it, does the same thing; but it does it awkwardly or, as it were, cautiously, and so unconvincingly. It has manifestly copied from its more agile neighbor. The second line of effort, most faithfully pursued, is wing fluttering. In this, again, the stilt is rather the mistress. It has perfected a trick of putting up one wing at a time and letting the wind towsle it about, as though it were really broken. Of course it also flutters both wings, and goes through other nondescript flopping and fluttering per- formances, such as are common to the family of shore birds.
Voice-—My first impression of the note as heard on the breeding erounds was recorded as a loud, guttural whuck, whuck, whuch; at other times it has seemed harsh and shrill. Audubon (1840) referred to their ordinary notes as “a whistling cry, different from the cleek, cleek, eleek, which they emit when they have nests or young.” ©. J. Maynard (1896), speaking of the breeding season, says: “The note at this time was quite different from that given
BLACK-NECKED STILT 53
earlier in the season, as they now uttered short syllables sounding like put, put, put, repeated rapidly, that of the males being harsh, while the females gave it shriller and more continuous.”
Fall—Stuart T. Danforth (1925), who made some studies of 2 breeding colony of stilts in Porto Rico, thus describes their departure in the fall:
By the latter part of June the adults had begun to flock again, and by the middle of September all the stilts at the lagoon (155 by actual count) had formed one compact flock. This count was made on September 17. By September 20 only about 50 were left; on September 23 there were 20; on September 27 and September 30, 16; on October 7, 5. After that none were seen.
DISTRIBUTION
Range.—The United States, and Central and South America.
Breeding range.—North to Oregon (Klamath Lake, Burns and Malheur Lake); Utah (Brigham and Salt Lake City); Colorado (San Luis Lake and Fort Garland); Louisiana (Black Bayou, Cal- casieu, Abbeville, and Vermilion Bay); and Florida (Titusville). East to Florida (Titusville, Cape Canaveral, Kissimmee, Eden, and Lake Hiecpoche); the Bahama Islands (Andros, Inagua and Green Cay); Cuba (Manzanillo); Porto Rico (Guanica lagoon); Vene- zuela (lagoon of Savonet and Curacao); Peru (Upper Ucayali River); and probably Ecuador (Guayaquil). South to probably Ecuador (Guayaquil) ; and probably the Galapagos Islands (Chat- ham and Albemarle Islands). West probably, to the Galapagos Islands (Albemarle Island); probably Nicaragua (Momotombo) ; probably Oaxaca (Tehuantepec); Tamaulipas (Tampico and Mata- moras) ; probably lower California (San Quintin Bay); California (Santa Ana, Los ‘Angeles, Castac Lake, Buena Vista Lake, Alila, Tulare Lake, Fresno, Los Banos, Stockton, Sutter County, and Tule Lake) ; and Oregon (Klamath Lake). There also is a breeding rec- ord for Saskatchewan (Fort Qu’Appelle, June 13, 1894).
Winter range—The black-necked stilt is no doubt resident throughout most or all of its breeding range in Central and South America. At this season it has been detected north to lower Cali- fornia (San Jose del Cabo, Santiago, and Cape San Lucas) ; Sinaloa (Mazatlan and Escuinapa); Tamaulipas (Matamoras); Texas (Brownsville and Refugio County) ; rarely Louisiana (Grand Chen- ier) ; Florida (Fort Myers) ; and Porto Rico.
Spring nigration—Karly dates of arrival are: California, Ojai, March 27, Daggett, April 10, Escondido, April 13, Stockton, April 13, Santa Barbara, April 14, and Fort Crook, April 19, Oregon, Narrows, April 8, and Malheur Lake, April 17; Arizona, Palo Verde, April 4; New Mexico, State College, May 17, and Lake Buford,
54267—27——5
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May 30; Colorado, Denver, May 5; Idaho, Rupert, April 28; and Montana, Billings, May 19. Migrants also have been observed to arrive at points on the Gulf coast as Texas, Port Lavaca, March 18; Louisiana, Sandfly Pass, March 16, and Vermilion Bay, April 27; and Florida, Merritts Island, March 10, and Titusville, March 11.
Fall migration.—Late dates of fall departure are: Oregon, Nar- rows, October 26; California, Fresno, September 15, Tulare Lake, October 7, Buttonwillow, November 13, and Riverdale, November 19; Utah, Ogden, October 8; Colorado, Windsor, November 5; and New Mexico, Jornada, September 25.
Casual records—The black-necked stilt has been reported from many of the eastern States but some of these are indefinite or other- wise unsatisfactory. Among those that are considered valid are Mississippi, Vicksburg, July 13, 1913; Alabama, Leighton, August 26, 1892; South Carolina, Sullivans Island, May, 1881 (possibly breeding) ; New Jersey, Stone Harbor, April 24, 1894, and Cape May, July 21, 1843; New York, Great South Bay, two taken, one in 1843; New Hampshire, Rye Beach, reported as taken several years pre- vious to 1902; Maine, Rockland, one taken early in May, 1889; New Brunswick, Maces Bay, one in September, 1880; Iowa, Hawarden, one in 1890, Webster County, several in the summer of 1898; Wisconsin, Racine, April, 1847; North Dakota, Hankinson, July 29, 1921; Kan- sas, Wichita, one killed in 1906; and Nebraska, a few occurrences around Omaha in 1893, 1894, and 1895. One also was taken on San Nicholas Island of the Santa Barbara group, California, on May 25, 1897.
Egg dates—California: 140 records, April 26 to August 4, 70 records, May 21 to June 8. Utah: 12 records, May 10 to June 24, 6 records, May 14 to 23. Texas: 23 records, April 17 to June 11; 12 records, April 26 to May 28. Florida: 90 records, April 14 to June 25; 45 records, April 14 to May 6.
Family SCOLOPACIDAE, Snipes and Sandpipers SCOLOPAX RUSTICOLA Linnaeus EUROPEAN WOODCOCK HABITS
This fine large member of the snipe family is widely distributed in Kurope and Asia and has occurred as a straggler in North America half a dozen times or more at various points from Newfoundland to Virginia.
Seton Gordon (1915) gives a very good idea of its distribution and migrations, as follows:
»
EUROPEAN WOODCOCK 55
The principal summer home of the woodcock is the northern portion of the Old World, for it is found extending from eastern Siberia to the western extremity of Europe. The woodcock nesting in Kamschatka migrate to Japan with the advent of the cold weather, those frequenting Mongolia to China, while those which have nested in western Siberia and on the plateau of Tibet move down to Burmah, India, Afghanistan, and Persia. Our own winter visitors are those birds which have bred in Scandinavia, Finland, and _ per- haps Russia. Those which press on south past our islands arrive in Pales- tine, in North Africa, and in Egypt. Throughout Russia the woodcock is found nesting, extending though in diminished numbers, as far south as the Caucasus and the Crimea. It also breeds in central France and in northern Italy. Some of its most distant nesting grounds are in Kashmir and Japan, while it has been found breeding in the Himalayas at the height of 10,000 feet. In the Faroe Islands it has occurred as a passing visitor and has also been recorded from Spitsbergen.
Courtship ——The same writer refers to a nuptial performance ukin to the evening song flight of our woodcock, of which he says:
Immediately after sunset the entire male woodcock population leave their secluded haunts, and fly backwards and forwards over the same line of coun- try, uttering a peculiar cry unheard except during the season of nesting. The notes may be termed the song of the males, and are uttered by the birds pre- vious to their departure for their feeding grounds in the evening. The song commences with grunting cries, ending up with a sharp and penetrating note repeated maybe several times in quick succession, pisick, pisick. At times two cock birds during their aerial maneuvers cross one another’s path, and then ensues a stern chase over the tree tops, the birds uttering repeatedly their chirping cries. The “roding” of the woodcock never takes place before the sun has set during the earlier part of spring, but at a more advanced period, in May, the birds commence their evening flights rather earlier. The flighting is continued till deep twilight has settled over the glen, but ceases before night. In the morning I, personally, have never heard this “roding,” but it is said to be recommenced before daybreak, and to cease previous to full day- light. The woodcock when roding does not fly repeatedly over the same part of the wood; there is an interval between each of its appearances.
It is said to pass over the same country three times in the course of the evening. On the first visit it flies high and usually fast; on the second its progress is lower and more leisurely; while on the third and last the bird moves just above the trees.
Nesting—In the southern portions of Great Britain the wood- cock is a very early breeder, many birds nesting in March and some in February. Late nestings in July indicate the probability that two broods are sometimes raised, though this is unusual among waders. Mr. Gordon (1915) describes the nesting habits as follows:
The nesting ground is usually a wood, deciduous trees, being, I think pref- erred, owing to the soft layer of fallen leaves covering the ground. Close- grown plantations are rarely chosen as nesting sites, and small belts of birch and oak are favorite nesting grounds, provided that there is plenty of space between the trees. It is my experience that the birds dislike dense cover in which to nest; a few broken-down braken offer a suitable position, or the bird may scrape out a hollow amongst the deep layers of fallen beech and oak leaves
56 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM
which cover the ground beneath these trees. The eggs usually number four, but at times only three are found. Their ground color is normally buff colored, and they are liberally spotted and blotched by dark reddish-brown markings. Nothing more primitive than the nest of the woodcock can be found in the bird world. It is merely a slight hollow scraped in the ground and generally without intentional lining of any kind. The mother woodcock often sits very hard on her eggs, especially if incubation be far advanced, for she relies on the close harmonization of her plumage with her surroundings. Sometimes I have been able to approach to within a few feet of such a bird, and by not the slightest movement did she betray that she was alive. As the result of her early nesting, the woodcock has sometimes to cover her eggs when snow lies around to a considerable depth.
Rev. Henry H. Slater (1898) says that the nest is “often at the foot of a young Scotch fir, or other tree.”
E'ggs——The European woodcock usually lays four eggs, but as many as six and even eight have been found in a nest, probably the product of two birds. These are much like large eggs of the Amer- ican woodcock. They are about ovate in shape and have a slight gloss. The ground colors vary from “deep olive buff” to “cream buff.” They are usually sparingly, but sometimes quite heavily, marked with irregular spots and small blotches. The underlying markings, in light shades of drab are numerous and quite conspicu- ous. Over these are varying amounts of spots and blotches of light browns, ranging in color from “snuff brown” to “clay color.” Occasionally there are a few spots or scrawls of “bister” or “clove brown” about the larger end. Herbert Massey (1913) describes the eges as follows:
The ground color ranges from the palest cream (nearly white) through deeper cream to pale buff, yellow-buff, and the deepest brown buff (many of the eggs of this latter type having a distinct pink tone), speckled and spotted and blotched with yellow-brown, dark brown, and purplish gray. As a rule, the eggs in the same set are fairly uniform in the pattern of the markings, but occasionally you get a set with one egg much more marked than the other three, and in many cases you find two distinct shades of ground color in the same Set.
The measurements of 100 eggs, furnished by F. C. R. Jourdain, average 43.8 by 33.6 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 49 by 34.8, 44.9 by 36.4, 40.2 by 34, and 48.1 by 31.6 millimeters.
Young.—Incubation lasts for 20 or 21 days and is performed by the female only. The young remain in the nest but a short time, where they are brooded by their mother and carefully tended by both parents. Several good observers have seen the mother bird carry her young away between her legs. Dresser (1871) quotes John J. Dalgleish as follows:
I have had on three occasions the good fortune to see the woodcock in the act of carrying her young. On the first occasion the bird rose from my feet
EUROPEAN WOODCOCK 57
one day in the month of June, in a thick coppice cover in Argyllshire, and flew with her strange burden carried between her thighs for about 30 yards, in the manner well described in a note in Mr. Gray’s Birds of the West of Scotland. On following her she again rose, still carrying the young one, and flew into some thick cover. On this and the next occasion, which was in Perthshire, the birds uttered no cry; but the last time I witnessed this curious habit, which was on the 5th of May last, the bird made the peculiar cry alluded to in the note in Mr. Gray’s work. On this occasion I could observe the bird more distinctly, as it was in an old oak cover, with very little underwood, where I discovered her. On rising she flew from 35 to 40 yards, calling as above men- tioned, and then, alighting among some grass, seemed to flutter along, still retaining hold of the chick. On raising her again, the same maneuver was repeated, only that the distance flown each time was greater, but always in the segment of a circle, as if she were unwilling to leave the rest of the brood. On returning to the spot where she rose at first, I discovered one of these, which was more than half grown, the quill feathers being well formed, and must altogether have formed rather a heavy burden. On taking it up, it uttered a cry, which was at once responded to by the parent bird, although the latter did not again take to wing from the bushes into which it had ultimately flown.
Abel Chapman (1924) writes:
For many years a question used to be discussed as to woodcocks carrying their young; but the matter never specially interested me, until, on August 3, 1915, I happened to see it with my own eyes. This was in Houxty wood, and since then I have witnessed the performance on many occasions. During the war this wood was largely felled for military purposes and the area thus cleared, and subsequently replanted, has become a specially favored resort of our long-billed friends. ‘The annexed sketch, made there on June 15, 1920, shows exactly how the feat is accomplished. That particular woodcock rose on the hillside a trifle above me, slowly flapping by close in front, and looking back at me over her shoulder. What first struck my attention was the curiously depressed tail, held almost vertical; then the mother’s feet, hanging down below; finally the youngster, with its very short beak, pressed between its parent’s thighs. Since then I have witnessed many similar exhibitions; indeed, in summer they are almost daily on view.
Plumages.—The downy young of the European woodcock is thus described in Witherby’s (1920) Handbook:
Forehead and broad band over eye to nape light ochraceous buff, a russet median streak from base of upper mandible to crown; crown russet intermixed with light ochraceous buff, centre of nape russet, sides light ochraceous buff ; an irregular and interrupted russet band from nape to uropygial tuft, another across wing; rest of upper parts and sides of body with irregular bands and patches of ochraceous buff and russet; from base of upper mandible to eye a broad black-brown streak; a small patch of same behind eye; a patch of russet on lower throat; rest of under parts light ochraceous buff.
The juvenal plumage is therein fully described. It is much like the adult, differing only in minor details, but can easily be recognized by the looser or softer structure of the feathers. Practically all of this plumage, except the primaries and secondaries, is replaced in the fall by the first winter plumage, which is indistinguishable
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from the adult. Adults have a complete postnuptial molt from July to December and a partial prenuptial molt, involving nearly every- thing but the wings, from February to May.
Food.—Mr. Gordon (1915) refers to the feeding habits of the woodcock as follows:
It feeds mainly by night on wet, boggy ground, and eats an enormous quan- tity of worms; indeed, it may swallow almost its own weight of food in the course of a single day. When the blackberries have ripened the woodcock betake themselves to the hillsides and consume great quantities of the fruit.
Mr. Slater (1898) says:
I have occasionally flushed woodecocks at night from wet rushy fields, where they were doubtless probing the ground for worms and larvae, occasionally turning over the droppings of cattle for concealed beetles. But they also feed in woods to a certain extent, turning the dead leaves over to find insects, ete. The accounts of the extent of their appetites and of the amount of worms, ete., which they will put away at a sitting are surprising. These they find in the earth with their bills, which are modified into a very delicate organ of touch.
If the horny epidermis be removed, a number of small pits of a hexagonal shape will be seen in the bone at the end of the bill, remotely suggesting an incipient honey comb. In each one of these pits a minute fibril of the olfactory nerve has its termination, and by this means, when the bill is thrust into the soft, wet soil, the slightest wriggle of the least living creature is instantly telegraphed to the woodcock’s sensibilities.
Witherby’s Handbook (1920) includes the following items in its food: Earthworms; also insects (coleoptera and their larvae, orth- optera (Forficula) larvae of lepidoptera, etc.) ; small mollusca, ete. Grains of maize recorded on one occasion in stomach, and mussels (Afytilus) also said to be eaten, as well as small crustacea.
Behavior—Mr. Gordon (1915) says:
During its flight the bill of the woodcock is pointed downwards, and the wings are not extended to their full stretch. It seldom makes sustained flights, however, except on migration. During a shoot at Alnick a woodcock was seen to alight on the ground and then to throw leaves over its back, pre- sumably to hide itself from the guns. If so, it would seem that the woodcock is one of the most sagacious of birds.
Selby (1833) writes:
The haunts selected by these birds, for their residence during the daytime, are usually the closest brakes of birch and other brushy underwood, and where the ground, from the deep shade, is nearly free from herbage; and, for this reason, thick fir plantations of 10 or 12 years’ growth are a favorite resort. In woods that are very extensive they are generally found, and abound most in thickets by the sides of open glades, or where roads intersect, as by these they pass to and from their feeding ground at evening and in the dawn of the morning. Unless disturbed, they remain quietly at roost upon the ground during the whole day, but as soon as the sun is wholly below the horizon, they are in full activity, and taking flight nearly at the same instant,
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leave the woods and cover for the adjoining meadows, or open land, over which they disperse themselves, and are fully engaged in search of food during the whole night.
Mr. Slater (1898) observes:
It is well known that woodcocks follow certain routes to their favorite feeding grounds in the evening, as they also have preferences for certain woods and certain parts of woods to lie in during the day. In short, they are very peculiar and fanciful in their tastes, and are guided by circumstances not apparent to us in their liking for one place rather than for another which seems to our eyes to offer the same advantages. A wood above my father’s late house, in Northumberland, was a regular passing place for cocks, and at dusk on any April or May evening a sight of half a dozen at least was a certainty, as they passed rapidly above the trees, announced, long before they themselves were visible, by their peculiar half squeak, half whistle. I have here seen them “tilting” in the air in the manner described by St. John and others. It has been suggested that this tilting (at which time they tumble and twirl about in the air in pairs and threes, apparently prodding at one another with their bills) is connected with pairing, but I can not think so, as I have witnessed it as late as the end of May. I rather think it is pure playfulness, as of children just out of school, after lying concealed and quiet most of the day.
According to Yarrell (1871), woodcocks sometimes become ex- hausted and fall into the sea on their migrations; but they do not always perish, for he says:
A woodcock when flushed on the coast has been known to settle on the sea, and when again disturbed rose without difficulty and fiew away. Numerous instances are recorded of woodecocks alighting on the decks of ships in the Eng- lish Channel and elsewhere. The rapidity of flight of this bird is at times so great that a pane of plate glass more than three-eighths of an inch thick has been smashed by the contact, and one was actually impaled on the weather cock of one of the churches in Ipswich.
Fali—_Mr. Slater (1898), writing of the fall migration in Great Britain, says:
Though many breed with us, there is a large migration from the North in the late autumn, If the moon is full about the end of October, they appear to come in a big “rush” then, but sometimes in driblets as early as the end of September, as late as mid-November. But their movements are largely influenced by the wind and atmosphere as well as the moon; if the weather is foggy or they are exhausted by a heavy contrary wind, they drop on the coast aS soon as they touch it, and large bags are sometimes made on the sand hills by those on the lookout for them. If the wind is light and weather clear, they seem to pass inland at once to favorite and suitable covers. Should frost come—which drives the worms down, and also prevents the birds from probing—cock move south and west. Therefore, it is in our southwest counties, Wales and West Ireland, where, owing to the Gulf stream frost and cold are seldom seyere, that the best woodcock shooting is to be had, after the seasonal migration is over. Though they travel as a rule at night, and chiefly at the time of the full moon, this is not invariably the case; on October 28, 1881, I saw a woodcock come straight in from the sea, 20 yards
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high, and pitch on a bare patch of shingle; this was shortly before midday, and I thought it such an unusual circumstance that I skinned the bird for my collection.
Winter—The woodcock is a winter resident as well as a migrant in Great Britain. Dresser (1871) writes:
Their numbers are, of course, greatly augmented in the winter, large num- bers of immigrants being added to those which breed (as after mentioned) ; indeed I am not sure whether all of those we have in winter are immigrants, and that those which breed with us move further south in pursuance of their migratory instinct; but this is a point very difficult to discover. In the distriet I now allude to, their numbers are much diminished on the appear- ance of severe, frosty weather, when they appear to go to the coast, where they find the feeding grounds more open; if, however, the frost be slight, they remain. ;
On the west coast of Argyllshire they are found in greater numbers, and are not so much confined to covers, being found in open weather scattered through all the sheltered glens where there is any brushwood or even bracken. On the occurrence of frost, however, they all gather to the low-lying covers near the sea, where its influence serves to keep open the springs; and in such weather very large bags are often made, as they seem to come not only from the out- lying spots aboye mentioned, but from the inland districts, where the frost has sealed up every one of their usual haunts.
DISTRIBUTION
Breeding range——Northern Europe and Asia. North in Scandi- navia to latitude 67°, in Lapland and Finland, in western Russia to 65°, and in eastern Russia to 64°. East to the Sea of Okhotsk. West to the British Isles. South to the Azores, Canaries, and Madeira (where it is resident), the Pyrenees, Alps, Transylvania, Carpathians, Himalayas (up to 10,000 feet), Mongolia, and Japan.
Winter range——Great Britain, the Mediterranean basin, northern Africa and southern Asia, Persia, India, Burma, China, Japan, and occasionally Ceylon.
Casual. records —Casual in the Faeroes, Spitsbergen, Greenland, and North America. Prof. Wells W. Cooke (1912) says:
It wanders occasionally to eastern North America, and has occurred in Loudoun County, Va., in 1873 (Coues) ; Chester County, Pa., the end of Novem- ber, 1886 (Stone); one was taken near Shrewsbury, N. J., December 6, 1859 (Lawrence) ; one, September, 1889, somewhere in New Jersey (Warren) ; one, probably of this species, near Newport, R. I. (Baird, Brewer, and Ridg- way); one at Chambly, Quebec, November 11, 1882 (Wintle) ; and one at St. John, Newfoundland, January 9, 1862 (Sclater).
Egg dates—Great Britain: 29 records, March 9 to August 5; 15 records, April 18 to June 22.
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RUBICOLA MINOR (Gmelin) AMERICAN WOODCOCK
HABITS
This mysterious hermit of the alders, this recluse of the boggy thickets, this wood nymph of crepuscular habits is a common bird and well distributed in our Eastern States, widely known, but not intimately known. Its quiet retiring habits do not lead to human intimacy. It may live almost in our midst unnoticed. Its needs are modest, its habitat is circumscribed, and it clings with tenacity to its favorite haunts even when closely encroached upon by civiliza- tion. The banks of a stream running through my place, close to the heart of the city, were once famous woodcock covers in which the birds persisted long after the surroundings were built up; and even within recent years I have had a pair of woodcocks living in the shrubbery along the stream for a week or two at a time.
Who knows where to look for woodcocks? Their haunts are so varied that one may not be surprised to find them almost anywhere, especially on migrations. Flight birds are here to-day and gone to-morrow. Their favorite resorts are alder thickets along the banks of meandering streams or spring-fed boggy runs; rich bottom lands or scrubby hollows, overgrown with willows, maples, alders, and poison sumac; or the scrubby edges of damp, second-growth woods, mixed with birches; any such place will suit them where they can find moist soil, not too wet or too sour, well supplied with earthworms. During the hot, sultry weather of July and August, the molting season, they seek the seclusion of cool, moist, leafy woods or dense thickets; or they may resort to the cool hillside or mountain bogs, fed by cool springs; or, if the weather is very dry, they may be found in the wet grassy meadows. Woodcocks do not like too much water and, after heavy rains, they may be driven from their usual covers to well-drained hillsides, sparsely covered with small birches, maples, locusts, and cedars. Sometimes they are found on the tops of mountains; George B. Sennett (1887) saw a pair on the top of Roan Mountain in North Carolina, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, “in a clump of balsams; the overflow from numerous springs which had their sources at this spot formed an open, ad- joining marsh of several acres.”
Woodcocks often appear in unexpected places, such as city parks, yards, gardens, orchards, or even lawns. John T. Nichols writes to me:
A neighbor (Mr. W. S. Dana) called for me at about 10 o’clock in the morn- ing of a sparklingly clear, rather cool summer’s day, to show me a wood- cock that was feeding on his lawn, which slopes down to an almost fresh water arm of Moriches Bay. We found the bird still busily engaged where he had
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left it. It was out in the bright sunlight, crouched, walking about slowly but continuously. It held its body in an unsteady wavering manner, and was picking and digging about the roots of the short grass stubbie, apparently obtaining some food too small for us to determine. The piece of lawn where the bird was operating was low and flat, adjacent to the edge of the water where protected by a low bulkhead. The ground was slightly moist, perhaps from seepage, which may have accounted for its presence. It was remarkably unsuspicious, allowing us to crawl within 2 or 3 yards, before flying back to alight under the shade of near-by trees; but was a full-grown bird, strong on the wing.
I have, more than once, seen a woodcock crouching in the short grass beside a country road, quite unconcerned as I drove past. I have frequently seen one in my yard about the shrubbery and I re- member seeing my father stand on his front piazza and shoot one that was standing under an arborvitae hedge: Moist cornfields are often favorite resorts for woodcocks in summer.
Spring.—The woodcock is the first of our waders to migrate north and one of the earliest of all our migrants, coming with the blue- birds and the robins, as soon as winter has begun to loosen its grip. The date depends on the weather and is very variable, for the bird must wait for a thaw to unlock its food supply in the bogs and spring holes. Walter H. Rich (1907) has known the woodcock to arrive in Maine as early as February 10, and says that early birds find a living about the big ant hills, until the alder covers are ready for them.
In Audubon’s (1840) time the migration must have been very heavy, for he says:
At the time when the woodcocks are traveling from the south toward all parts of the United States, on their way to their breeding places, these birds, although they migrate singly, follow each other with such rapidity, that they may be said to arrive in flocks, the one coming directly in the wake of the other. This is particularly observable by a person standing on the eastern banks of the Mississippi or the Ohio, in the evening dusk, from the middle of March to that of April, when almost every instant there whizzes past him a woodcock, with a velocity equaling that of our swiftest birds. See them flying across and low over the broad stream; the sound produced by the action of their wings reaches your ear as they approach, and gradually dies away after they have passed and again entered the woods.
No such flights can be seen to-day, but we occasionally have a com- paratively heavy migration; such a flight occurred in 1923 and is thus described in some notes from Edward H. Forbush:
The most remarkable occurrence of the past two months was the prevalence of migrating woodcocks over a large part of southern New England and along the coastal regions to Nova Scotia. The first woodeock was reported in Massa- chusetts the last week in February and from the first week in March onward woodcocks were noted in slowly increasing numbers over a large part of New
England. From March 22 to the first week in April the number of these birds scattered through Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts was remarkable. At
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evening one could find them almost anywhere. They were seen in the most unlikely places even in daylight. They were in all the towns around Boston and in the suburbs of the city itself, and west at least to the Connecticut Val- ley they were even more numerous in the woods and swamps. In southern New England at this time a large part of the snow had gone and in going had thawed the ground so that no frost remained and the woodcocks could find earthworms almost everywhere. Farther north there was not only frost in the ground but there was deep snow and the birds could find no food. Courtship.—The woodcock may be found by those who seek him and know his haunts, but it is only for a short time during the breed- ing season, that he comes out into the open and makes himself con- spicuous. His spectacular evening song-flight has been seen by many observers, and numerous writers have referred to it or de- scribed it more or less fully. William Brewster (1894) has given us the best and most complete account of it, but it is too long to quote in full here. I prefer to give my own version of it. The time to look and listen for it is during the laying and incubation period— say the month of April in Massachusetts, earlier farther south, even December and January in the Gulf States. The performance usually begins soon after sunset, as twilight approaches. On dark nights it ceases about when the afterglow finally disappears in the western sky; and it begins again in the morning twilight, lasting from dawn to broad daylight. On moonlight nights it is often continued through much or all of the night. The woodcock’s nest is usually in some swampy thicket or on the edge of the woods, near an open pasture, field, or clearing; and here in the nearest open space, pref- erably on some knoll or low hillside within hearing of his sitting mate, the male woodcock entertains her with his thrilling perform- ance. Sometimes, but not always, he struts around on the ground, with tail erect and spread, and with bill pointing downwards and resting on his chest. More often he stands still, or walks about slowly in a normal attitude, producing at intervals of a few seconds two very different notes—a loud, rasping, emphatic zeeip—which might be mistaken for the note of the nighthawk, and a soft gut- tural note, audible at only a short distance, like the croak of a frog or the cluck of a hen. Suddenly he rises, and flies off at a rising angle, circling higher and higher, in increasing spirals, until he looks like a mere speck in the sky, mounting to a height of 200 or 300 feet; during the upward flight he whistles continuously, twittering musical notes, like twitter, itter, itter, itter, repeated without a break. These notes may be caused by the whistling of his wings, but it seems to me that they are vocal. Then comes his true love song—a loud, musical, three-syllable note—sounding to me like chicharee, chicharee, chicharee uttered three times with only a slight interval between the outbursts; this song is given as the bird flutters downward, circling, zigzagging, and finally volplaning down to the ground at
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or near his starting point. He soon begins again on the zeezp notes and the whole act is repeated again and again. Sometimes two, or even three, birds may be performing within sight or hearing; occa- sionally one is seen to drive another away.
The performance has been similarly described by several others with shght variations. Mr. Brewster (1894) refers to what I have called the zeetp note as paap and the soft guttural note as p’tul, and says that—
“Each paap was closely preceded by a p’tul, so closely at times that the two sounds were nearly merged.” .
He counted the paaps as “uttered consecutively 31, 21, 37, 29, and 28 times.”
Describing the action in detail, he says:
At each utterance of the paap the neck was slightly lengthened, the head was thrown upward and backward (much in the manner of a least flycatcher’s while singing), the bill was opened wide and raised to a horizontal position, the wings were jerked out from the body. All these movements were abrupt and convulsive, indicating considerable muscular effort on the part of the bird. There was perhaps also a slight twitching of the tail, but this member was not perceptibly raised or expanded. The return of the several parts to their respective normal positions was quite as sudden as were the initial movements. The forward recovery of the head was well marked. The opening and shutting of the bill strongly suggested that of a pair of tongs. During the emission of the paap the throat swelled and its plumage was ruffled, but neither effect was more marked than with any of our small birds while in the act of singing.
The mouth opened to such an extent that I could look directly down the bird’s throat, which appeared large enough to admit the end of one’s forefinger. The lateral distension of the mouth was especially striking.
Referring to the song flight, he says: “Two flights, which I timed from the start to the finish, lasted, respectively, 57 and 59 seconds, the song 11 and 12 seconds, respectively.” During the flight he followed him with a glass and “made out distinctly that while sing- ing he alternately flapped his wings (several times in succession) and held them extended and motionless.”
Francis H. Allen has sent me the following notes on his impres- sion of the song:
In all that has been written of this wonderful performance of the wood- cock’s, I do not remember to have seen any full description of the song itself; the peeping, or peenting, on the ground, with the alternating water-dropping sounds and the accompaniment of head-jerking and wing-lifting has been described at length, as well as the remarkable spiral ascent into the air on whistling wings; but the character of the actual song, which is uttered at the summit of the ascent and as the bird comes down, is worth a little more attention. It begins in a confused series of chipping whistles which convey the impression of coming from at least three birds at once. These soon resolve themselves into groups of four to six—usually four in my experience— descending notes, the groups alternating with groups of high-pitched wing-
*
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whistles. These song notes vary in sweetness with different individuals, but are often very clear and musical. Not the least interesting aspect of the wood- cock’s evening hymn is