Egg dates.—Arctic Canada: 70 records, June 12 to July 24; 35 records, July 3 to 6. Alaska: 33 records, June 2 to July 5; 17 records, June 6 to 18.
EREUNETES MAURI Cabanis
WESTERN SANDPIPER
HABITS
Spring.—The western sandpiper has an unique distribution and peculiar migrations. It occupies a very restricted breeding range in the coastal regions of northwestern Alaska, but is spread out over a wide winter range, entirely across the continent in southern North America, in Central America, and in northern South America. But we know very little about its migration routes between these two seasonal ranges. I have not a single spring record for it from any of my correspondents in the interior. Undoubtedly it has been generally overlooked on account of its close resemblance to the semipalmated sandpiper, an abundant species which few collectors bother to shoot. Its northward migration along the Pacific coast, in April and May, is well known; this flight is mainly coastwise and the birds are often extremely abundant. D. E. Brown, in some notes sent to me from Westport, Washington, refers to this species as easily outnumbering all other shorebirds combined; they were associated with redbacks, but outnumbered them 10 to 1. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says of the arrival of these birds in Alaska:
As the snow disappears on the low ground about Norton Sound; from the 10th to the 15th of May each year, and the ponds, still ice-covered, are bordered by a ring of water, these gentle birds arrive on the shore of Bering Sea, in the vicinity of Saint Michael and the Yukon mouth. The advancing season finds their numbers continually augmented until, toward the end of May, they are extremely common and are found scattered everywhere over the mossy flats and low hillsides. Their gentle character and trusting ways render them very attractive to the frequenter of their territory at this season.
Courtship.—The same gifted writer describes the courtship of this gentle little sandpiper as follows:
The warm days toward the end of May cause the brown slopes and flats to assume a shade of green, and among the pretty bird romances going on under our eyes none is more charming than the courtship of this delicate sandpiper. They have forsaken the borders of icy pools, and, in twos and threes, are found scattered over the tundra, showing a preference for small dry knolls and the drier tussock-covered parts of the country in the vicinity of damp spots and small ponds. Here the gentle birds may be seen at all times tripping daintily over the moss or in and out among the tufts of grass, conversing with each other in low, pleasant, twittering notes, and never showing any sign of the wrangling so frequent with their kind at this season. The female modestly avoids the male as he pays his homage, running back and forth before her as though anxious to exhibit his tiny form to the best advantage. At times his heart beats high with pride and he trails his wings, elevates and partly spreads his tail, and struts in front of his lady fair in all the pompous vanity of a pigmy turkey-cock; or his blood courses in a fiery stream until, filled with ecstatic joy, the sanguine lover springs from the earth, and, rising upon vibrating wings, some 10 or 15 yards, he poises, hovering in the same position, sometimes nearly a minute, while he pours forth a rapid, uniform series of rather musical trills, which vary in strength as they gradually rise and fall, producing pleasant cadences. The wings of the songster meanwhile vibrate with such rapid motion that they appear to keep time with the rapidly trilling notes, which can only be likened to the running down of a small spring and may be represented by the syllables tzr-r-e-e-e, zr-e-e-e-, zr-e-e-e, in a fine high-pitched tone, with an impetus at each "z." This part of the song ended, the bird raises its wings above its back, thus forming a V, and glides slowly to the ground, uttering at the same time, in a trill, but with a deeper and richer tone, a series of notes which may be likened to the syllables tzur-r-r-r, tzur-r-r-r. The word "throaty" may be applied to these latter notes as distinguished from the high-pitched key of the first part of the song.
Nesting.—Herbert W. Brandt, who has had extensive experience with the nesting habits of this species, says in his manuscript notes:
The gentle little western sandpiper is the most abundant and most widely distributed shore bird occurring in the Hooper Bay region. Throughout the area, wherever dry ground is found, it is plentiful, and it even occurs on the lower mountain slopes of the Askinuk Range. Before the tundra had discarded its snowy mantle the first birds of this species had responded to the lure of early spring, for they arrived on May 14, and two days later they were common, while on May 20 they were abundant, carrying on everywhere their dainty aerial butterfly courtship. The western sandpiper is usually found in large scattering colonies especially on the upland tundra where for large areas they average one or two pairs to the acre. Isolated couples, however, are occasionally encountered.
The nest of the western sandpiper is well concealed from view by the surrounding curly bunch-grass that everywhere in the dryer areas forces its way up amid the moss. Under this protection a depression is made and scantily lined with grass, and usually in addition with considerable tiny leaves of the prostrate berry-bearing vines, of the dwarf birch, and of the reindeer moss stems. In consequence, the nest is very fragile and loosely made, but before it is disturbed it is neatly cup-shaped. The range of measurements of 32 nests is: Inside diameter, 2 to 3 inches; depth of cavity, 1½ to 3 inches; and total depth, 2½ to 4 inches. Both male and female share in the tender duties of incubation and are often very loath to forsake their nest, so that when crossing their chosen haunts an incubating bird, by fluttering up before one's very feet, will occasionally unwittingly betray its well-concealed abode.
These charming little creatures are most brave, even eager in defense of their homes, often charging with puffed-out feathers and head drawn against the body to make themselves look as formidable as possible. Their tameness and familiarity are remarkable. Often after we had removed the eggs the parent would go to the empty nest, sit on it for a little while, then come out, her little body a-purr with agitation, and inquire in her thin incessant voice what had become of the eggs. It is little wonder that I shot very few specimens for identification purposes. This tiny sandpiper had won too deep a place in my affections.