NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 277 



grounds, the nest being a mere hollow lined with a little 

 moss. The parent birds are said to be very tame at 

 the nest, only flying for a little distance when flushed 

 from the eggs. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper are four in 

 number. They are pj^riform in shape, smooth in texture, 

 and vary in ground colour from pale buff to deep buff, 

 sometimes tinged with olive, blotched and spotted with 

 rich reddish-brown, and with numerous underlying 

 markings of ink-gray. As usual, most of the larger 

 blotches are on the major half of the Qgg, and often 

 confluent, and types occur in which the markings are 

 diagonally distributed. Occasionally a few dark-brown 

 streaks occur on the larger end of the Qgg ; the under- 

 lying markings are very distinctly defined. Average 

 measurement, 1*45 inch in length, by ro inch in breadth. 

 The duration of the period of incubation is unknown, 

 as is also which sex performs the task. 



Diagnostic characters : The eggs of this bird 

 require very careful identification, as they closely re- 

 semble those of other allied species breeding within the 

 same area; and from which I am at present unable to 

 give any thoroughly reliable character to distinguish 

 them. 



