Page:Condor19(3).djvu/5

May, 1917 THE HOME LIFE OF THE BAIRD SANDPIPER 79 east Siberia, where conditions are similar to those of the nesting ground in north- ernmost North America. There seems to be no instance of the Baird Sandpiper nesting south of the Barren Grounds of the Arctic Coast. Dr. R. M. Anderson (in Stefansson's "My Life with the Eskimo", 1913, p. 472) says that this species "nests somewhat locally, usually on dry ground near the coast". Itc also points out that it may be absent at a certain point and abun- dant only a few miles away. The present author also noted this tendency of the species to breed in comparative abundance at one particular place, while it might be entirely absent at a similar, and as far as could be seen, equally suitable, place only a few miles distant. This bird was found to be the commonest breeding sandpiper at Herschel Island, Yukon, where an officer of the Northwest Mounted Police informed me that several nests had been found on the dry tundra in late Jun?. Upon our arrival at Herschel Island on July 28, 1914, between thirty and forty young Baird Sandpipers were noted daily in a series of shallow tide pools adjoining the "Barracks". Some of these were scarcely able to fly, in fact the Eskimo boys ran one down, so these birds could not have flown across the channel from the adjoining mainland, where the species was rare or absent at this ?tate. Unlike the Longspurs and some other birds, the male and female Baird Sand- piper arrive at the breeding grounds together. They were notable among the shore birds on account of their nervous demeanor and retiring nature. Another good field character is found in the long wings and legs, combined with a rela- tively slender body, which makes the birds appear much larger than they really are, especially in comparison with the wee Semipalmated Sandpiper, with which they are most often associated. As a rule the Baird Sandpiper is a retiring per- sonage> preferring his own or his mate's company to that of other birds. On May 31, 1914, at Griffin Point, Arctic Alaska, the first pair of Baird Sandpipers for the season were noted feeding along the rim of a frozen tundra pond. The weather had turned bitterly cold during the previous night, and as a result the newly formed ice on the ponds was thick enough to support a man. Strictly speaking, there was no night at this date, for the two months of contin- uous daylight had already begun; so in a short time the sandpipers were bustling about picking up the mosquito and other pupae which were being washed out by a newly-born stream that gurgled under the snow and ice on its way down to the frozen lagoon. The Longspurs and Semipalmated Sandpipers waded boldly along the mar- gins of the shallower pools when feeding, but the Baird Sandpipers seemed to be more dainty, and at this time were not observed to wade to the extent that the other birds did. They apparently preferred to hunt their food along the edges of pools with banks sufficiently abrupt so that from the shore they could pick up floating pupae and other dainties and still keep their' feet dry. 'The courtship of the Baird Sandpiper appears to be carried on in absolute silence. This is in marked contrast to the ventriloquial hooting of the male Pec- toral Sandpiper, or the cricket-like song and peculiar nuptial flight of the Semi- palmated Sandpiper. Brooks (loc. cit.) has aptly described the courtship of the Baird Sandpiper as follows: "Only once did I note any courtship activity. On ?his occasion (May 24), the male would fly a few feet above the female, while she rested on the ground, with quick erratic wing strokes suggesting a Nighthawk. Frequently he would alight and raise the wings high over the back as a gull does before folding them. Then with the forearms perpendicular, the primaries