Though not ranked as song birds, many of the Snipes and Plovers have pleasing calls and whistles and in the breeding season they become highly musical or indulge in singular vocal performances.
The song of the Bartramian Sandpiper would attract the attention of the least observant and the singular aërial evolutions of the Snipe and Woodcock lend an unusual interest to the study of these birds in the spring. The Pectoral Sandpiper was observed by Nelson in Alaska, in May, to fill its œsophagus with air dilating the skin of the neck and breast and forming a sack as large as the body. Then in the air or on the ground the bird produced a series of hollow booming notes, constituting its love song.
The Plovers have shorter, harder bills than the true Snipe and several of our species frequent the uplands rather than muddy shore or tidal flats.
The Turnstones are true shore birds. Their home with us is on the seacoast where they feed along the beach turning over shells and pebbles in their search for food.
The Oyster-catchers are also strictly maritime. They frequent bars left bare by the tide and, it is said, use their stout bills to force open mussels; oysters, or other bivalves left exposed by the water. This belief, however, does not appear to rest on careful, definite observation.
The Jacana belongs to a small family of birds with representatives throughout the tropics. All its members are remarkable for the length of their toes, the wide extent of which enable these birds to walk over aquatic vegetation. So, for instance, I have seen them running over small lily leaves which, sinking slightly beneath the surface, made the birds appear to be walking on the water.
The Limicolæ, as a rule, nest on the ground. The Phalaropes, Snipes, and Plovers lay four eggs, the Oyster-catcher three, the Jacanas, it is said, four in some species to ten in others. The eggs of all are proportionately large and pointed or pear-shaped and are usually thickly marked with dark spots. The young are born covered with down and leave the nest just after hatching.
Shore Birds
| 222. Red Phalarope (Crymophilus fulicarius). L. 8.10; B. 9. Bill heavy, wider than deep. Ad. ♀. Below entirely reddish brown; cap black, back black and buff. Ad. ♂. Similar, but smaller; crown and back streaked with brown, black, and buff. Yng. Resemble ♂, but upper tail-coverts plumbeous, underparts white. Winter. Crown and underparts white, hindneck black, back gray. Notes. A musical clink, clink. (Nelson.) Range.—"Northern parts of northern hemisphere, breeding in the Arctic regions and migrating south in winter; in the United States south to the Middle States. Ohio Valley, and Cape St. Lucas; chiefly maritime." (A. O. U.) 223. Northern Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus). L. 7.7; B. .8. Bill short, slender, sharply pointed. Ad. ♀. Breast rufous; above slaty gray mixed with ochraceous on back. Ad. ♂. Smaller, less rufous; on throat; above blackish streaked with rusty. Yng. Underparts and forehead white; crown sooty; back blackish streaked with straw-color. Winter. Upperparts gray mixed with white; underparts white. Notes. A low chippering, clicking note. Range.—Northern hemisphere; breeds from Labrador and northern British America north to Greenland and Alaska; winters apparently south of United States where it is known as a migrant chiefly off the coasts. 224. Wilson Phalarope (Steganopus tricolor). L. 9.5; B. 1.3. Bill long. Ad. ♀. Sides of neck black and chestnut; crown and back gray. Ad. ♂. Smaller; chestnut and black much less and duller; crown and back blackish, latter sometimes with rufous. Yng. Below white; crown and back black margined with ochraceous; nape brownish gray. Winter. Above gray, upper tail-coverts white; below white. Notes. A soft, trumpet yna, yna. Range.—North America, chiefly in the interior; breeds from northern Illinois (rarely), Minnesota and Central California, north to latitude 55°; winters south of United States to southern South America. 283. Turnstone (Arenaria interpres). Similar to [283.1] but larger, W. 6., and upperparts in ad. with black prevailing. Yng. Blacker than young of 283.1. Range.—Eastern hemisphere, in America, only in Greenland and Alaska. 283.1. Ruddy Turnstone (Arenaria morinella). L. 9.5; W. 5.7. Ads. Reddish brown prevailing in upper surface. Yng. Above and breast grayish brown margined with buffy, throat, abdomen, rump and long upper tail-coverts white as in ad.; shorter upper tail-coverts black. Notes. When flying, a loud twittering note. (Nuttall.) Range.—Nearly cosmopolitan; breeds in Arctic regions; winters in America south of United States to Patagonia. 288. Mexican Jacana (Jacana spinosa). L. 8. Toes over 1.5. Ads. Chestnut and black; wings mostly greenish. Yng. Forehead, line over eye, and below white. Above grayish brown, sometimes with rump chestnut, nape black. Notes. A harsh, rapidly repeated eep, eep, eep. Range.—Central America and Mexico north to Lower Rio Grande Valley, Cuba and Haiti. |