Part 10

Breeding range.--North to Oregon (Fort Klamath and Camp Harney); Montana (Bozeman); Alberta (probably Edmonton and Buffalo Lake); Saskatchewan (probably Quill Lake and Indian Head); Manitoba (Moose Mountain and Turtle Mountains); North Dakota (Cando and Larimore); Minnesota (Herman and Madison); and probably formerly Illinois (Belvidere and Glen Ellyn). East to probably formerly Illinois (Glen Ellyn). South to probably formerly Illinois (Glen Ellyn); Iowa (probably Newton and formerly Boone); Nebraska (Long Pine, Kennedy, Garden County, and Morrill County); Wyoming (probably Big Piney); Utah (Parleys Park and Salt Lake); and northern California (Beckwith). West to northern California (Beckwith, Grasshopper Valley, Alturas, and Goose Lake); and Oregon (probably Tule Lake and Fort Klamath). Non-breeding birds have been observed in summer as far south as Lower California (Mazatlan and San Quintin Bay); Colorado (Barr); Florida (Pensacola); and Alabama (Petit Bois Island).

Winter range.--North to California (Humboldt Bay); Texas (Brownsville, Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Refugio County); probably Louisiana; and Florida (Amelia Island). East to Florida (Amelia Island, Dummitts, and the Florida Keys); Tamaulipas (Tampico); probably Honduras (San Pedro); Ecuador (Bay of Santa Elena); and Peru (Tumbez). South to Peru (Tumbez); and the Galapagos Islands (Albemarle). West to the Galapagos Islands (Albemarle and Abingdon); Costa Rica (Lepanto); Guerrero (Acapulco); Nyarit (San Bias); Lower California (San Quintin); and California (San Diego, La Jolla, Morro Bay, San Francisco, Bodega Bay, and Humboldt Bay).

Spring migration.--Early dates of arrival are: Arkansas, Osceola, March 29; Missouri, Stotesbury, April 8, and St. Louis, April 27; Illinois, Quincy, April 5, and Big Lake, April 29; Iowa, Cedar Rapids, April 2, Emmetsburg, April 21, and Keokuk, April 30; Wisconsin, Heron Lake, April 10, and Waseca, April 10; Minnesota, Lanesboro, April 26; Kansas, Manhattan, April 28, and McPherson, April 30; Nebraska, Niobrara, April 26, Neligh, May 1, and Valentine, May 5; South Dakota, Pitrodie, April 25, and Forestburg, April 28; North Dakota, Charlson, May 1, Jamestown, May 1, and Harrisburg, May 2; Manitoba, Treesbank, April 30; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, April 26, Wiseton, May 2, and Eastend, May 7; Colorado, Durango, April 15, Barr, April 20, and Baca County, April 28; Utah, Great Salt Lake, April 12; Wyoming, Cokeville, April 26, and Cheyenne, April 30; Montana, Lewiston, May 2, and Billings, May 4; Oregon, Narrows, April 15; and Alberta, Flagstaff, April 26, Vagreville, April 28, and Alliance, April 29.

Late dates of spring departure are: Florida, Indian Rocks, May 6; Alabama, Coden, May 17; Tamaulipas, Tampico, April 11; Texas, Brownsville, April 23, and Texas City, May 13; Lower California, Tres Marias Islands, April 8, and Cerros Island, April 18; and Nyarit, San Blas, April 24, and Los Penas Island, May 5.

Fall migration.--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: Lower California, San Quintin, August 8; Arizona, San Bernardino Ranch, August 13; New Mexico, Carlsbad, August 16, and Capitan Mountains, August 28; Oklahoma, Yarnaby, August 9; Texas, Padre Island, August 20; and Tehuantepec, San Mateo, August 6. Western willets also are of fairly regular occurrence in fall migration on the Atlantic coast, specimens having been collected in Massachusetts, Newburyport, August 5, and Boston, August 8; Connecticut, Stony Creek, August 15, and West Haven, August 26; Rhode Island, Quonochontaug, August 5; and New York, Amityville, August 14, and Hempstead Bay, August 15.

Late dates of fall departure are: Oregon, Yaquina Bay, October 1; Montana, Terry, September 8; Idaho, Rupert, October 20; Nevada, Carson River, October 13; Arizona, San Bernardino Ranch, September 2; Wyoming, Yellowstone Park, September 13; New Mexico, Jicarilla Apache Reservation, September 13; Saskatchewan, Redberry, September 2; North Dakota, Dawson, September 17, and Harrisburg, October 3; Nebraska, Long Pine, September 10, and Lincoln, September 29; Iowa, Cerro Gordo County, September 2, and Keokuk, October 27; Illinois, Chicago, September 30; and Connecticut, West Haven, September 3, and once in October.

Casual records.--In spite of its regular occurrence on the Atlantic coast, the western willet has been detected only on a few occasions in the interior States east of the Mississippi River. There appear to be several records for Ohio from April 30 (Oberlin) to November 2 (Bay Point); one for Indiana, Millers, August 14, 1897; and one for Michigan, Ann Arbor, May, 1889. One was taken July 20, 1898 at Toronto, Ontario, and four other specimens without data are presumed to be from the same locality (Fleming). Other casual occurrences are: Washington, Seattle, July 23, 1922, and Tacoma, September 6, 1913; British Columbia, Clover Point, August 18, 1898; probably Yukon, Lake Marsh, July 2, 1899; and Alaska, Lynn Canal (Hartlaub).

Egg dates.--Utah: 32 records, April 5 to May 21; 16 records, May 4 to 14. Saskatchewan and North Dakota: 19 records, May 8 to June 22; 10 records, May 23 to June 7. Washington to California: 9 records, May 8 to June 16.

HETEROSCELUS INCANUS (Gmelin)

WANDERING TATTLER

HABITS

Along the rocky and stony portions of the Pacific coast, and especially on the islands and outlying reefs, this ocean wanderer is a common and well-known bird. Here it is much at home among the surf-swept rocks, drenched in ocean spray and often enveloped in fog; it has no fear of foaming breakers, which it nimbly dodges as it seeks its bits of marine food among the kelp and barnacles on the rocks. It is, at most seasons, essentially a bird of the seashore, but is seldom seen on the sandy or muddy shores. The dark color of its upper plumage matches its surroundings and it is not easily seen among the gloomy rocks, unless its characteristic outline can be seen against the sky or water as it poses on the top of some prominent rock to watch the intruder. If he approach too near, it flies off a short distance with loud, piercing cries and alights on another rock, to bob and teeter, somewhat like our familiar spotted and solitary sandpipers. It is generally solitary and seems to be satisfied with its own society.

It is well named, as it is a famous wanderer. I am tempted to quote Dr. E. W. Nelson’s (1887) well-chosen words on this subject, as follows:

Over the entire coast of the Pacific north of the equator its presence has been noted by the various naturalists whose Bohemian tastes have made their lives somewhat akin to that of this gentle wanderer. Across the broad ocean it ranges to those bits of paradise dotting the South Seas, tripping its way daintily on the beaches of the coral-enclosed islands, their feet laved by the warm waters of the tropics, and their eyes familiar with the luxuriant face of nature in its gentlest and most lovely state. The next season may find them thousands of miles to the north, under the shadow of the stupendous cliffs and grand but desolate and repellent scenes of the Aleutian Islands.

Spring.--Prof. Wells W. Cooke (1912) says that “the spring migration begins in March, bringing the birds to the coast of California by the latter part of the month. The Aleutian Islands are reached the middle of May, and the most northern part of the range by the latter part of the month.” H. W. Henshaw (1902) says that “about April or May the greater number” leave the Hawaiian Islands for the north. “While most go, many remain, the latter being the immature birds and the weaklings. At all events, those that remain retain the immature or winter dress and show not the slightest inclination to breed.” Henry Seebohm (1890) reports a straggler taken on the Bonin Islands on May 11, 1889. D. E. Brown’s notes record one at Forrester Island, Alaska, on May 3, 1917, and several at Grays Harbor, Wash., from May 4 to 21, 1920. He says: “At low tide these birds were found, with flocks of black turnstone, on the rock jetty and at high tide among the drift logs on the upper beach.”

Nesting.--The nesting habits of the wandering tattler long remained shrouded in mystery. Various observers had seen it on or near its probable breeding grounds in the interior of different parts of Alaska. Dr. Wilfred H. Osgood (1907) collected a very young bird in which “the head and neck were still downy,” near the upper MacMillan River, Yukon, on September 5, 1904, and he reported a pair, which evidently had young, seen by Charles Sheldon, near Mount McKinley, July 28, 1906. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1910) mentions a “half-grown juvenal” taken by Joseph Dixon on Montague Island, July 28, 1908.

The first nest was found in 1912 and is thus described in a letter from J. M. Jessup to Dr. Charles W. Richmond, accompanied by a specimen of the bird:

The wandering tattler was found nesting on a gravel bar near a small stream flowing into the Arctic Ocean, the exact location was about latitude 69° 10´ and longitude 141° west, or about 25 miles south of the Arctic Ocean near the international boundary between Canada and Alaska. The nest was first observed by Sir Frederick Lambart of the Canadian Coast and Geodetic Survey, and was later identified by myself. Sir Frederick describes the nest as follows: “The nest was situated in the middle of an elevated gravel bar open to the sky for fully 50 feet all around. The nest was just alongside a small rock; there were no sticks or any form of nest material, it consisted merely of a semispherical hollow in dry fine and coarse gravel. Four eggs were in the nest, I should say about the size of a ptarmigan’s, brownish blue and mottled very much like a sandpiper’s. The young birds were noted to have come out of the eggs July 9.”

Ten years later Olaus J. Murie (1924) collected a downy, young wandering tattler on Jennie Creek, a small tributary of Savage River, in the Alaska Range, on June 9, 1922. The following year he completed the record by finding a nest and collecting the first and only set of eggs ever taken. He has given us a very good account of the whole proceeding, from which I quote, as follows:

The following day, July 1, we continued up Savage River 9 miles and made permanent camp. We had been on the lookout for the birds and I had pointed out to Mr. Buhmann one in the distance, that he might have an idea for what we were looking. About noon Mr. Buhmann and my brother were riding on the wagon, while I walked ahead over the usual gravel bars, when Mr. Buhmann suddenly called out to me, “Is that one of your birds?” I turned and saw a wandering tattler flying away. The bird had been flushed by the horses. We all three walked back carefully beside the wagon and in a few moments spied the nest and eggs a short distance to the rear, not over 6 inches from the wheel track! Mr. Buhmann picked up one of the eggs, wishing, as he enthusiastically explained, to be the first one who had ever handled the egg of a wandering tattler. I explained that the eggs should not be disturbed until photographed, and it was carefully replaced in the nest. A series of exposures was made of the nest and eggs, and we moved away some distance with our outfit and prepared our lunch. In the meantime the bird returned and settled on the nest. Several photographs were then taken of the bird on the eggs, the last one at a distance of about 10 feet or less. The nest and eggs were then taken and carried to our camping ground.

All our observations indicate that this nesting site is characteristic, that the wandering tattler prefers the gravel bars of mountain streams, as typified by Savage River. These rivers are rapid and split into numerous channels, sometimes in an intricate network over the gravelly valley. This nest was found on Savage River about 5 miles above the mouth of Jennie Creek at an elevation of about 4,000 feet. It was placed on a gravel bar about 30 feet from the nearest water, and was sunk in a shallow depression in the gravel. It was well built, unusually elaborate for a shore bird. It was composed principally of fine roots carefully woven into a firm structure, including a number of twigs around the edges. Small bits of twigs and some dry leaves had been used for lining. It was so compact that I had no difficulty in picking it up and transporting it to camp. The diameter of the nest to the edges of the finely woven body was about 5 inches, but, of course, some of the twigs extended much farther.

Eggs.--The eggs taken by Mr. Murie on Savage River, Alaska, July 1, 1923, are now in the United States National Museum and are, so far as I know, the only eggs in existence. In shape they are between pyriform and subpyriform, and they have a slight gloss. The ground color is between “glaucous” and “greenish glaucous,” as in some crow’s eggs. They are spotted and blotched irregularly, rather heavily near the larger end and rather sparsely elsewhere, with dark browns, from “seal brown” or “bone brown” to “burnt umber” or “Verona brown”; there are some elongated splashes and some small, inconspicuous, underlying spot of various shades of “brownish drab.” They measure 43.3 by =32.7=, =44.5= by 31.4, =44.1= by =31.5=, and 43.7 by 32.3 millimeters.

Young.--The young are able to run about soon after they are hatched and are carefully guarded by both parents. An adult, secured by Mr. Murie with the downy young, proved to be a male. “A whistled cheep, imitating a chick, would bring the excited bird within a few feet.” Mr. Jessup writes that the mother bird was much distressed and attempted to lure him from her little one by feigning lameness.

Plumages.--Mr. Murie (1924) has described the downy young very well, as follows:

These downy young may be described as follows: Under parts dull white with a faint indication of grayish on upper breast and lower fore neck; upper parts pale gray, with a very slight suggestion of buffy on wings, rump, and tail, more evident in the fresh specimens than in the skin; upper parts narrowly, irregularly, and indistinctly barred with blackish, with dull black loral and postocular streaks and with irregular black spots on hind pileum. In a colored sketch made from freshly killed bird, tarsus and upper part of toes appear dull glaucous green; the under surface of foot olive yellow; bill dull glaucous blue.

Another bird which I have examined, as a dried skin, does not show any buffy tints. A young bird, mainly in juvenal plumage but still downy on the hind neck, chin and forehead, taken on September 5, is from “deep mouse gray” to “dark olive gray” above, with very faint whitish tips; the wing coverts have more prominent white edgings; the chest is “pallid mouse gray,” and the flanks “pale mouse gray,” both more or less indistinctly barred; the rest of the under parts are white. A limited postjuvenal molt of the body plumage occurs in September, producing the first winter plumage; this is much like the adult, except that the juvenal wing coverts, some of the scapulars and the mottled plumage of the breast and flanks are retained. Some young birds apparently assume a plumage which is practically adult at the first prenuptial molt in April.

Adults have a complete postnuptial molt from August to January, the wings being molted last, between October and January. I have seen birds in full nuptial plumage from April 13 to September 14 and in full winter plumage as late as April 12. In winter adults the upper parts are slightly lighter gray than in summer, the sides of the head, chest and flanks are still lighter gray and the chin and belly are white. The partial prenuptial molt occurs in April.

Food.--The usual feeding grounds of the wandering tattler are the rocky shores, where it searches for its food among the kelp-covered rocks at the water’s edge, following the receding waves and nimbly dodging the incoming breakers or making short flights to avoid the surf. If over-taken and drenched it flies to a rock, shakes the water from its plumage and soon resumes its feeding. B. J. Bretherton (1896) says that on Kodiak Island: