I have often spoken of the great differences as to size and colour that are observed in birds of the same species, and which have frequently given rise to mistakes, insomuch that the male, the female, and the young, have been considered as so many distinct species. The Long-legged Sandpiper has been treated in this manner, and has latterly reappeared under the name of Tringa Douglassii, in the Fauna Boreali-Americana of my friends Richardson and Swainson. Bonaparte was, in truth, the first who described this bird; and although some differences might be found between his specimen and the one described in the work just mentioned, they are trifling compared with those which I have observed between seven or eight individuals all procured from the same flock at a single shot. It is strange that neither Bonaparte nor Swainson have mentioned the sex of their specimen.
On the morning of the 4th of April 1837, while seated among the drift wood that had accumulated on the southern shore of the island of Barataria, forty miles from the south-west pass of the Mississippi, and occupied in observing some Pelicans, I saw a flock of about thirty Long-legged Sandpipers alight within ten steps of me, near the water. They immediately scattered, following the margin of the retiring and advancing waves, in search of food, which I could see them procure by probing the wet sand in the manner of Curlews, that is, to the full length of their bill, holding it for a short time in the sand, as if engaged in sucking up what they found. In this way they continued feeding on an extended line of shore of about thirty yards, and it was pleasing to see the alacrity with which they simultaneously advanced and retreated, according to the motions of the water. In about three quarters of an hour, during all which time I had watched them with attention, they removed a few yards beyond the highest wash of the waves, huddled close together, and began to plume and cleanse themselves. All of a sudden they ceased their occupation, stood still, and several of them emitted a sharp tweet-tweet, somewhat resembling the notes of Totanus solitarius; immediately after which seven birds of the same species passed close to me, and alighted near those which I had already watched. They at once began to feed, and as I thought that the first flock might join them, and that I might lose the opportunity of procuring specimens, in sufficient number, I fired and killed eleven. The rest flew off, and were joined by the second group, the whole flying to windward in a compact body, and emitting every now and then their sharp tweet, tweet, until out of sight and hearing.
My son John obtained several of these birds on the same island while they were feeding on the margins of a fresh-water pond; and we saw them on almost every island and bay on our way to the Texas, where we also procured some on Galveston Island.
The flight of these Sandpipers is rapid and regular. They move compactly, and often when about to alight, or after being disturbed, incline their bodies to either side, shewing alternately the upper and lower parts. On foot they move more like Curlews than Tringas, they being as it were more sedate in their deportment. At times, on the approach of a person, they squat on the ground, very much in the manner of the Esquimaux Curlew, Numenius borealis; and their flesh is as delicate as that of the species just named. In the stomach of several individuals I found small worms, minute shell-fish, and vegetable substances, among which were the hard seeds of plants unknown to me. I suspect that in summer and autumn they feed on small fruits and berries, though of this I have no proof.
Among those which we procured, I found the differences in the colour of the plumage quite as great as in Scolopax noveboracensis, some of the younger birds being yet in their winter dress, while the older had already assumed a reddish colour on the cheeks, the top of the head, and the breast. The females were all larger than the males, and differed from each other not only in the markings of the plumage, but also in the length of the bill, to the extent of a quarter of an inch, and of the legs, to a still greater extent. Whether or not this species assumes a uniform reddish tint in the breeding season, such as is observed in the Pigmy Curlew, Tringa subarquata, I am unable to say, although I am much inclined to think that it does.
Their passage through the United States is very rapid, both in spring and autumn, Some few spend the winter in Lower Louisiana, but nearly all proceed southward beyond the Texas.
Tringa Himantopus, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of United States, p. 316.
Tringa Douglassii, Swainson, Douglas’s Sandpiper, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. 379.
Tringa Himantopus, Slender-shanks Sandpiper, Richards. and Swains. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. ii. 380.
Long-Legged Sandpiper, Audubon’s Stilt Sandpiper, and Douglass’ Stilt Sandpiper, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 138, 140, 141.