428 BIRDS OF ARCTIC AMERICA MACFARLANE. 



marked with faint spots and small blotches of bi[s]tie. These markings 

 are very generally ditJused, but are a little more numerous about the 

 larger ends. They are of an oblong-pyriforni shape." 



251. Limosa haemastica (Liuu.). Hudsouian Godwit. 



Xot very common, although several nests were taken near the post 

 and on the Lower Anderson River. The nests were all mere depressions, 

 or small holes scooped in the earth, thinly lined with decayed leaves, 

 and in almost every instance they contained four eggs. "Three of the 

 eggs received from the Anderson are in the Smithsonian collection. In 

 two of these the ground is of a deep raw-umber color, or an olivaceous 

 drab. There are no well-detine<l spots, but the aj^ex of the larger end 

 is deeply stained with a dark burnt-umber color. A few very indistinct 

 spots of a paler shade of this tint are visible over the general surface 

 of the eggs. The other egg has a ground color of a paler umber-drab, 

 and the njarkings are quite distinct. These are small irregular blotches, 

 longitudinal in their direction, and of a deep burnt-umber tint. The 

 apex of the larger end is covered by a broad pa^^ch, in which all the 

 markings of a very dark umber, almost black, run into each other. 

 These eggs are pyriform in shape, and measure 2.15 by 1.41, 2.12 by 1.39, 

 and 2.22 by 1.10 inches." 



255. Totanus flavipes (Gmel.). Yellow-legs. 



Probably the most abundant and certainlv the noisest of all the 

 waders met with. I^ests were found at Fort Anderson, on the Lower 

 Anderson, in the wooded country to and along the rivers which How 

 through the Barren Grounds. In many instances the male bird was seen 

 perching on trees in the vicinity, but when young were present both 

 ])arents were particularly noisy, and did all that was possible to attract 

 av\ay intruders, while the former soon learned to run and screen them- 

 selves from view in the grass. Over thirty nest entries are recorded, 

 while it is among the earliest of the waders which arrive and breed iu 

 the region under review. 



■'to' 



262. Tiyngites subruficollis (Vieillot). Butf-broasted Sandpiper. 



This species is common in the Barren Grounds east of Ilorton Eiver 

 and on the Arctic coast. Between the 2Gth of June and the 9th of July 

 upwards of twenty sets of eggs were secured, and there were four iu 

 every nest, which was a mere depression in the soil, scantily lined with 

 a few withered leaves and dried grasses. When the nest was approached 

 the female parent usually made a low flight to a short distance. 



263. Actitis macularia (Linu.). Spotted Sandpiper. 



Nat being desiderata, comjiaratively few eggs were collected, although 

 the bird itself is numerous along the Anderson and Lockhart Eivers, 

 and in many other parts within the defined boundaries. It was not, 

 however, observed by us on the shores of the Arctic Sea. 



