

62 The Ottawa Naturalist. [Aug. -Sept. 



In Manitoba and it is of that Province I write more par- 

 ticularly this plover reaches us from the south, on an average, 

 about the first or second of May. It comes up in a leisurely 

 manner, often pausing to utter its quaint song, by which means 

 and its oft-uttered call note, its arrival is easily detected and 

 its departure southward recorded by the same means, minus the 

 song. 



To begin with then, sandpipers roam the prairies in pairs, 

 picking up most of the soft-bodied animal creation that is un- 

 fortunate enough to attract their attention. Grasshoppers, how- 

 ever, unquestionably form the chief article of diet at that time, 

 as there is no mistaking the rapid runs, first one way and then 

 another. They resemble a human being trying to catch a frog, 

 and such actions can only be caused by an insect that hops. 

 In June, these birds begin to seriously consider the rearing of 

 a family and seek out a suitable tuft of grass or some other 

 object near which to build a nest, so that there will be some sort 

 of shelter affording protection both from the weather and 

 enemies, though I do not think the latter precaution is a very 

 necessary one, as the birds, with their mottled coats are ad- 

 mirably adapted for concealment ; in fact they harmonize 

 almost perfectly with the herbage in which they are found, 

 and I cannot remember ever having detected a brooding bird 

 before she left the nest, though often fully in view. The 

 nest is found in various situations from the centre of low 

 open bushes to unbroken prairie or the tops of sand dunes 

 where the vegetation is very scanty. The nest is sunk in the 

 ground and is lightly built of grass with occasionally a feather 

 or two for lining. In this the bird lays from four to five eggs of 

 the usual sandpiper type, large and mottled. The eggs for the 

 size of the bird are remarkably large and one wonders how 

 such a small bird lays such large eggs. On account of the size 

 and the long time they take to hatch, the young when they do 

 appear are so well developed that they can run actively and 

 immediately leave the nest. The actual brooding, so far as I 

 am aware, is done by the female alone, but the male is seldom 

 far away and he takes an active part in caring for the young. 

 At this time the female is bold and wise in defence of her off- 

 spring, readily resorting to such artifices as feigning death or 

 injurv, and I have known them to fairly fly in my face as I stooped 

 to pick up a little one, uttering weird cries meanwhile. They 

 become very noisy as the young grow and their perpetual call- 

 ings to attract attention get rather monotonous, especially when 

 one is trving to listen for something else. 



In the early eighties these birds were everywhere and their 

 cries and songs could be heard at any time of the day while 



