THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 129 



white; hind head and neck above, brown, minutely streak- 

 ed with black; back, black, the feathers slightly skirted 

 with brown; long wing feathers, black, barred with white 

 on the inner webs; rump, deep brown black, slightly bor- 

 dered with white; tail, tapering, of a pale brown orange, 

 barred with black, the middle feather centered with dusky; 

 legs, yellow, tinged with green, the outer toe joined to 

 the middle one by a membrane; lining of wings, barred 

 with black and white; eye, very laige. The male and fe- 

 male are nearly alike. 



The nest is a mere depi'ession in the ground, lined with 

 grass, straw and tendrils. The eggs are genei-ally four in 

 number, of a clay color, spotted all over with brown and 

 purplish gray, and one and three-fourths by one and one- 

 fourth inches in size. 



The birds breed in the United States from Virginia 

 northward and spend the winter in South America. They 

 arrive in New Jersey during the latter part of April and 

 remain vmtil the middle of September. 



Their cry is a loud, long, soft whistle, the alarm note, 

 quip-ip-ip-ip, quip-ij) ip-ip, at other times uttering a 

 chr-r-r-r-ee-e-c-t-e-e-oo-oo-o-o-oo. 



Their food consists of insects and they destroy a great 

 many grasshoppers and beetles and occasionally take a 

 few berries. 



Sftndpiper^ Ijt'ast^ M'eep^ or ^IMeaftow Oj-ei/e. — 



Length, five and a half to six inches; extent, twelve 

 inches; bill, three-fourths of an inch, black; feathers on 

 the uppei' surface of the body and head, black centrally, 

 l)roadly bordered with buff and gray; long wing feathers, 

 dark brown; tail, light grayish brown, central pair dusky; 

 below, breast and neck white, somewhat suffused with 

 gi-ay, and each feather with a central dusky streak; rest 

 of under parts, white; legs and feet, black. In the winter 

 there is less gray and more white in tbc phunage. 



The nest is a depression in dry moss lined witli a little 



