•i26 BIRDS OF AECTIC AMERICA MACFARLANE. 



or sheets of water. Upwards of seventy nests wore secured, tlie num- 

 ber of eggs being always four. Although the parent usually left the 

 nest, both birds would sometimes exhibit great uneasiness and utter 

 loud cries of distress on the approach of man. 



230. Gallinago delicata (Ord). Wilson's Snipe. 



Not particularly numerous in the Anderson country', as we found 

 comparatively few nests. 1 may here remark that the nests of all tbs 

 snipes and sandpipers are much alike in composition, number of eggs, 

 and situation. 



232. Macrorhampus scolopaceus (Say). Loug-billed Dowitcbcr. 



The few nests of this species as recorded were taken between the 

 21st of June and the 1st of July, the eggs were always four in num- 

 ber, but it is not a very abundant bird in the Anderson section of the 

 Polar regions. M. griseus (Gmel.) probably breeds in the same quarter. 



233. Micropalama himantopus (Boiiap.). Stilt Saudpiper. 



The Stilt Sandpiper was fairly abundant on the shores of Franklin 

 Bay, where a number of nests with eggs and young were discovered. 

 It is, however, very rare in the interior, only one nest having been 

 taken at Rendezvous Lake on the borders of the wooded country east 

 of Fort Anderson. On one occasion we could not help admiring the 

 courage and ingenuity displayed by both parents in defense of their 

 young, which resulted in saving two of the latter from capture. 



239. Tringa maculata Vieill. Pectoral Saudpiper. 



We failed to discover any nests of this rather rare species. A few 

 birds were seen flying past tlie Fort, and one or two were shot. 



240. Tringa fuscicoUis Vieill. Whitt'-niinped Saudpiper. 



Several nests of this sandpiper were found on or iiear the Arctic 

 coast of Franklin Bay. One of these taken July 3 contained four eggs 

 with very large embryos. Another discovered on the following day 

 held but three eggs. A third found in the Barren Grounds on 2yth 

 June was, like the rest, a shallow cavity in the ground, lined with a few 

 decayed leaves, containing four eggs, also having very large embryos. 

 A fourth, obtained on the banks of a small river, held four eggs whose 

 contents were, however, in a far less developed condition than the 

 others. 



241. Tringa bairdii (Coues). Baird's Sandpiper. 



On 24th June, ]8(U, a nest containing four eggs was found in the 

 Barren Grounds, in a swampy tract between two small lakes, and was 

 composed of a few decayed leaves placed in a small cavity or dei)res- 

 sion in the ground, shaded by a tuft of grass. The female bird gbded 



I 



