NESTS AND EGGS OF ACSTRALIAN BIRDS. 8lj 



Eyyx. — Cliitcli, foiu"; pyrifomi iii shape; textui'e of shell fine; 

 sui-face glossy ; coloiu', stony -grey, metliiuuly marked and spotted with 

 umber or reddish-brown and obscui'e grey. Dimensions in inches : 

 (1) 1-45 X 1-04, (-J) 1-44 X 1-02. 



OhxervattDnii. — The Common Sandpiper is well named, being common 

 not only to Australia, and Tasmania, but to many other parts of the 

 world, including Great Britain, where it is familiarly known as the 

 Simimer Snipe. In any of oui- colonial museiuns its figiue may be studied 

 in a homely di'ab or brownish dress marked with darker coloured bars, 

 while the luidenieath parts are much lighter. Tlie legs are yellowish- 

 green. Total length, between seven and eight inches. Gilbert, who 

 procured Goidd's specimens in the Northern Territory, remarks : 

 " Although solitai-y in its habits, I have seen three or four together. 

 They were mostly observed inhabiting the beds of mangroves, over the 

 roots of which, just above the water, they were very actively engaged 

 in searching for their food (insects, Crustacea, &c.), the tail being in 

 constant motion. Occasionally I saw solitaiy individuals on the margins 

 of the lakes inland." 



Its eggs have never been taken in Australia, but in Eiu'ope it con- 

 structs a slight nest amongst herbage, in which it deposits foiu- somewhat 

 lai'ge eggs of a. warm, stony-gi-ej' colour, marked with numerous roundish 

 spots of imiber. 



627. — Terekia cinerea, Giildnest. — (527) 

 TEREK SANDPIPER. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 34. 



Reference. — C=it. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 474. 



Previous Deuiiplions of Eggs. — Dresser : Birds of Europe, vol. viii., 

 p. 200 (1871) ; H arting : Proc. Zool. See, p. 454 (1874); 

 Legge : Birds of Ceylon, p. 839 {1880) ; Campbell : Southern 

 Science Record (1883). 



Geoiji-aphicaJ Distrihution. — South Queensland, New South Wales, 

 and South Australia; also Africa, India, &c., migrating to Northern 

 Siberia and North-eastern Europe to breed. 



Neitt. — Simply a slight saucer-shaped hollow in the gi-omid, lined with 

 chips of wood and bits of thick reed, situated in open marshy pai'ts of 

 an alder thicket by the sides of a creek, or on the sand amongst bent 

 grass (Alston and Harvie-Brown). 



Eggs. — Clutch, — ; pyrifonn in shap3; texture of shell fine; 

 surface glossy ; colour, warm or rich stone, blotched and spotted with 

 rich or deep umber and dull pui-plish-grey. Most resemble those of the 

 Common Sandpiper (Triutioiilcn hypoleiirux). Dimensions in inches: 

 (1) 1-5 X 1-05, (2) 1-5 X 1-03. 



