26 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



throug-h to the North Atlantic, and there was not so much as a 

 single blade of grass within twenty feet of the nest. It is rather 

 a misnomer to call the place where their eggs were laid a " nest," 

 as it was merely a hollow, which contained a single small piece of 

 shell. Later on, the boys told me, the Piping Plover lines its nest 

 very extensively with pieces of shell ; but in this case there was 

 only the one fragment, though the set was complete, and the 

 other nest that I found contained only one small bone of a bird 

 about an inch long. The substances must surely be more in the 

 line of decoration than for any assistance in the task of incubation. 

 One of these nests I stumbled upon while skirting the lake one 

 afternoon having just shot the female under the impression that 

 she belonged to the species rather than to the variety ; but on 

 picking her up I found that my surmise was incorrect, as the band 

 across the chest by which the distinction is made, really did extend 

 right across, although very faint in the centre, and her mate, who 

 was seen but not killed, had a wide black bar completely across. 

 The other nest, however, cost me much thought and trouble, and 

 were it not that one welcomes difficulties for the sake of over- 

 coming them, it is not likely I should ever have found it. 



The male bird seemed to pass most of his time on the shores 

 of the lake about two hundred yards south of the nest and here, 

 on some little sandy knolls, I searched on several occasions without 

 success. Each time the male would run along before me apparently 

 quite concerned, and after a while his call would bring the 

 female. At last I caught a glimpse of her coming through the 

 gully before mentioned leading to the North Atlantic and that 

 gave me the hint I needed. I went back to the gully and the 

 birds followed, but search as I would I could not find that the 

 numerous tracks, which could be readily followed on the loose 

 sand, led to any nest at all. Leaving them for that time, I re- 

 turned the next day, crept carefully to the top of the hill overlooking 

 the gully, and fired oflF my gun, in the hope of starting the bird 

 from the nest. But there was no response. After waiting perhaps 

 five minutes the male began calling at me from below, and with 

 the aid of my glass I located him, standing still ; soon I saw the 

 female standing near him, and I descended and made another fruit- 

 less search. A second time I went back and crept again to the 



