504 THE BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON

(Thompson).

Two

Rivers: 1885, firstseen, one,on

May

3^; nextseen, several, on

May

4^;

became common May

5; breeds liere (Criddle).

Shell Kiver: 1885, first seen, two, on

May

4; afterwards seen every day; is

common

all

summer and

breeds here(Calcutt). Qu'Appelle:

Common summer

resident; breeds; arrives

May

12 (Guernsey).

May

6, 1882:

For some

days back I have hearda loudrattlingwhis- tle th t seems to

come

from the skies,

and

sometimes I haveseen the bird that produces it sailing at a great height. Occasionally I have observed it sail

downwards

at anangle of 45 degrees

and

settleonthe fence oron the prairie. To-day atnoon I shotoneofthese birds as it

was

perched on a fence stake. Itfirst alighted on the barn, where C.

T. fired atit, but ^itflew off

and

alighted

on

the fence where I winged

it. Itdid not attempt toescape, butlayonitsbackwithitslegs

drawn

up. I found ^it to be the upland plover, or quaily, as the residents callit. It

was

a male, length

Hi,

extension 20^; stomach contained insects

and two

rose-pip stones.

May

11: Single quailiesvery

numerous now

; they

seem

tosail

down- ward

out of the very sky, utteringtheirmournful whistle, like"rrrrrr- phee-pheeoooo^{!^^} as they ^sail

down

on the prairie, where they stand for afew seconds, like the statue ofan angel, with their wings raised aloft, doubtless to

show

the beautifully barred underside, then delib- erately folding

them

they

nod and

stepforward

and

nod again ateach

step,

and

pick

up

the unfortunate early ^flies,

and

stop occasionally to reiterate the mournful whistle

and

thereby conjure out of the very clouds

some comrade who

also sweeps

downward,

whistles, alights, strikes the vainglorious attitude, then joins in the varied pursuits of love, music,

and

beetles.

May

4, 1883: Quailies noted.

A.

S.T.

May

11,quailiesverynumer- ous now.

On June

6, 1883, while crossing the prairienear the house, Iflushed aQuaily from her nest almost under

my

feet; she fluttered afew yards forward

and

then lay flat on theprairie, beating her wings on the ground

and

uttering suchheart-brokencriesthatI could not but leave herin peace.

The

nest contained three eggs.

June

^{15. I}

saw

a curious sight on

some

newly broken prairie.

A

Quaily

had

sprung from her nest just under thefeetof the plough- horses; the

man had

stopped them,

removed

the four eggs the nest contained, ploughed on,

and

then, after replacing the square foot of sod the bird

had

nested in, restored the eggs to theirplace

and

left

them.

Very

soon the motherbird found courage to return and resume her duties,

and when

I

saw

ter, she

was

sitting contentedlyon her eggsⁱⁿ thistiny green patch surrounded

by

acres of level black earth.

June

4, 1884. In this day's drive

saw

no pairsofQuailies, but ob- served sevensolitary birds.

During

the last

week

of

May

thespecies

was

ahvaysseen in pairs,

and

it

was

thisthatled

me

tocount.

The

change noted today is, no doubt, duetothe factthat the

honey-moon

^°1890."']

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 505

isover

and

thelayingseason

commenced. The

egg of thisspecies is actuallj" larger than that of a prairie chicken, although the quaily weighs but4 ounces,

and

the chicken nearly ten times as much.

Duringthesummernobirdiamorefamiliar on tue Manitoban prairies than the Upland Plover or Bartram's Sandpiper (Bartramia lotigicaucla), commonly there

known asthe 'Quaily,"fromitsnote. Surelynobird everdifferedmorecompletely fromthe geuorality ofitsrelatives than this^! It isaSandpiper-which doesnot ap- peartofrequent marshes,whichbreeds habituallyonthedryopenprairies,andwhich

isfrequently tobeseenperched among the branches of trees. Its tamenessisex- cessive. Oftenwhendriving over theprairieIhave seen it remain within3yards of the passing vehiclewithouttheslightestconcern.

When

onthe wing,itoffersa shotsotemptinglyeasy thatfew can resist. Its note is a highlyremarkableone, noteasilyforgottenwhenonceheard. Dr.Coneswell describesitasa " loug-drawn, soft,mellowwhistle,of a peculiarlyclear, resonant quality." Itbreedsabundantly on the open prairie,andIhaveseveraltimescaughttheyoungindown. The ma-

jority leftManitoba towardsthelatterendofAugust, but I was several times sur- prised at hearingorseeing a belatedliairuntilquitelate inSeptember. (Christy.) Thissj)eciesisan abundantsummerresidentonallthedryprairiesnear Portagela Prairie,arriving early in May; at thistimethey areverytame,and mayfrequently beseen perchingonthefences,andIoncesawonemakea ludicrousattemptto settle himselfontheglassinsulatorontop of a telegraphpole. About the 1st of August they desert this prairie and betake themselvestothebrokenlandinsmall flocks.

Theyare then very wild. Bythe 10thof themonththeyhaveall left; though on August 29, 1884, I saw a single bird flying over. Not observedinthe vicinity of Winnipeg(NashinMSS.).

87. Tryngitessubruficollis. Buff-breasted Sandpiper.

Winnipeg

^: Transient visitor; rare; in migration along

Red

Eiver (Hine).

88. Actitismacularia. SpottedSandpiper.

Common summer

resident along streams; throughout the region from

Pembina

to Rockies along the

boundary

(Coues).

Winnipeg:

Summer

resident; abundant; breeding (Hine).

Norway House

^(Bell,

1880). Shoal Lake,

May

15, 1887(Christy).

Oak

Point: 1884, arrived April 22 (Small). PortagelaPrairie:

Abundant summer

resident,ar- riving soon after

May

1; departs at the end of September; thelast seen by

me was

onthe24th of that

month

(Nash).

Common

; breeding along the route of 1880

and

1881; always seen in couples (Macoun).

PortagelaPrairie: July22, 1884,

saw young

Peetweets running with the oldones alongthe

banks

of

Owl

Creek (Thompson).

89. Numeniuslougirostris. Long-billedCurlew.

Summer

resident of thewet prairies; breeds in moderate

numbers

about

Pembina

(Coues).

Winnipeg:

Rare; transient; visitor (Hine).

Rarespring

and autumn

visitor;

saw

five on

Rat

Creek, in the West- bourne marsh, October 8, 1884 (Nash). Frequent on the Sourisplain,

May,

1882, frequenting the

wet

prairie (Thompson).

50G

TIiE

BIRDS OF MANITOBA THOMPSON.

90. Charadriussquatarola. Black-bellied Plover.

Spring niigraDt.

Winnipeg

^: Fairlyplentiful, frequenting fields or flyingin large compactflocks with other waders_; goes northto breed, butis backin

numbers

during the

summer

(Hine). Carberry: Spring migrant;

saw

flocks on thefields

May

24,1881,

and

on

June

3,on

Rapid

CityTrail; south slope of Riding Mountain,

saw

three; also a

Gray

Plover(Thompson). Dalton^: 1889,firstseen,abouta hundred, on

May

27^; are

common

for a few daysin spring(Youmans). Severn

House

(Murray).

91. Charadriusdominicus. AiuericauGoldenPlover.

'

Common

spring

and

fall migrant; very

abundant

along the

Mouse

River at theboundary,in late

September

(Coues).

Winnipeg

:

Abun-

dant; transient; visitant; arrivesabout the middleof

May

_; goes north tobreed; comes backin large flocks in

August

^; affects burntprairie

and

ploughed land ^(Hine). Portage la Prairie^:

Abundant

spring

and autumn

^visitor, occurring in large flocks; they frequent the prairie sloughs, the broken land,

and

are particularly partial to the burnt prairie; I have seen

them

ⁱⁿ vast

numbers

following the fires; they will alight on the

ground

burnt over a few hours ^after the fire has passed; arrive in

May,

reappearing in August,

and

departing in Oc- tober(Nash).

One

flockseenatFortPelly,September18,1881(Macoun).

Carberry:

Common

spring migrant;

Long

River; plain south of the Souris; northsideofTurtle

Mountain

(Thompson). ShellRiver: 1885, fifty or

more

inflocks goingnorthon

May

26; transient; visitantonly_; not breeding(Calcutt). Qu'Appelle: Tolerably

common

migrant;

May

20 (Guernsey). Trout

Lake

Station

and

Severn

House

(Murray).

92. .aigialitis vocifera. Killdeer.

Common summer

resident;

abundant

throughoutthe

summer

inall suitable places,

Pembina

to the Rockies, along the line (Coues).

Duf

ferin: Arrived

between

15th

and

20th ofApril, 1874 (Dawson).

Win-

nipeg:

Summer

resident; plentiful; breeding (Hine).

Oak

Point:1885, first seen, one, on April 17; next seen, one, on April 18; is

common, and

breeds (Small). Portage laPrairie:

Abundant summer

resident, arrivingin April, departingat

end

of

September

(Nash).

Abundant

everywherealong theroute,on

Western

^plains,

and

especially on

Win-

nepegosis, around the salt licks; shot at

Manitoba

House,

June

16, 1881 (Macoun). Carberry^: Latterlya

summer

resident, breedingabout ponds, preferably with gravelly orsandyshores; near

Brandon

; near

Long

River; Silver Creek; near

Rapid

City (Thompson). Dalton:

1889, firstseen,five,onApril _8; nextseen on April 12,

when

it

became

common

^;breeds here(Youmans).

Brandon

^: Breeds; eggstaken second

week

in July, 1882 (Wood). Shell River: 1855, first seen, one, male, onApril 6; ^isa

common summer

^resident,

^and

breeds here (Calcutt).

^°i89o'"']

PROCEEDINGS OP THE NATIONAL MUSEUM. 507

Qu'Appelle^:

Commou summer

resident^; breeds; arrives April 17 (Guernsey).

July 7,1882, at Silver Creek,

saw

a singledownling Kildeer running on the trail just before theoxen; bothits parents wereflyingabout, utteringtheirloudlaments

and

trying todecoythe

young

oneaside,but couldnot get itoutofthe

wagon

rutintowhichit

had

fallen; it ranon straight,trying to

keepahead

oftheoxen,tillIcaughtit. Itwastheraost fawn-like thing I ever

saw

in feathers; itslarge lustrous eyes were turned on

me

with an expression offearless innocence that

was

touch- ing,

and when

Iset the littleballof

down

at libertyon the prairieit

walkedgracefully

away

without betraying

any

consciousness ofhaving beenⁱⁿthepowerofitsworstenemy. It

was

apparentlynewlyhatched, butthe markings of its

downy

coat were similar to those of the adult birds, minus the orange.

93. ^gialitis seimipalmata. SemipalmatedPlover. EiugPlover.

Rare migrant between

Hudson Bay and Lake Winnipeg

(Murray).

Winnipeg.

Summer

resident; rare(Hine).

Common

at

Lake Winnipeg

in

June

(Kinnicott). PortagelaPrairie:

Very

abundantinAugust, fre-

quenting the sand-bars on the Assiniboinewith the Least Sandpiper (Nash).

Abundant

with Kildeer,

and

evidently breeding, asI

saw young

with

them

atthesaltspringson

Red Deer

River,July_{22, 1881}; at

Lake

Manitoba(Macoun).

Brandon

^:

One

seenApril 28, 1882, another

May

25 (Wood). Trout

Lake

Station

and

Severn

House

_; plentifulinArctic

America

(Murray).

94. ^gialitismeloda. PipingPlover. Ring-neck.

Migrant; possibly breeds also.

Winnipeg: Summer

resident; toler- ably coinuiou (Hiiie). Procured four specimens at

Lake Winnipeg

(D.

Gunn). PortagelaPrairie : Occurs inthe migrations with the Semi- palmated Plover (Nash). Shot migratingin

company

with Sanderlings on the shores of

Lake

Manitoba,

June

12, 1881 (Macoun).

95. Areuaria interpres. Turnstone.

Migrant.

Winnipeg:

Rare, but occurs aboutthe prairiepondshere,

and

on shore of

Lake Winnipeg

in pairs; apparently goes north tothe largelakesto breed; returns about themiddleof

August

(Hine).

Lake Winnipeg

(Brewer). Severn

House

(Murray).

96. Deudragapuscanadensis. SprucePartridge.

Resident in thespruce forestsofthenorth

and

east;

common. Win-

nipeg:

Summer

resident;

abundant

in spruce woods, butso

tame and

fearless that itspursuitcanscarcelybecalledsport(Hine).

A

specimen

in SmithsonianInstitutionfrom

Red

RiverSettlement(Blakiston).

Does

not occurintheimmediate vicinity of Portage laPrairie or Winnipeg,