SPOON-BILL SANDPIPER 241 



ing, although she is the larger of the two. The female spoonbill is thus seem- 

 ingly content to merely lay the eggs, while she lets the male build the nest, 

 incubate the eggs, and take care of the young. In corroboration of the latter 

 statements, the author observed a male bird building a nest at Providence Bay, 

 Siberia, June 22, 1913; another male was flushed repeatedly from :i nest con- 

 taining two fresh eggs near the same place, on the same day, while a third 

 male was found tending three downy young at Cape Serdze, Siberia, on 

 July 17, 1913. 



On July 17, 1913, at Cape Serdze, Siberia, while strolling along the spongy 

 green turf beside a fresh-water pond, my attention was attracted by the 

 " broken wing " antics of a spoon-billed sandpiper. Although my eyes re- 

 mained " glued " on the spot from which the bird arose, no nest or sign of 

 young could be found when I reached the place. Soon a second bird, pre- 

 sumably the female, arrived on the scene. Both appeared much concerned, 

 and from their actions I felt sure that there were young near by. A careful 

 search of the short grass, which was not over 2 inches high, failed to reveal 

 any living creature. I therefore retired to a grassy mound about 20 yards 

 away and awaited developments. Both parent birds, giving their alarm notes, 

 circled about overhead, where they were soon joined by a pair each of 

 Eastern least and Temminck's stints. The two pairs of stints were later found 

 to have broods of downy young in the grass on the opposite shore of the 

 lagoon near by. Soon both spoonbills flew off across the lagoon and dis- 

 appeared, but the male returned promptly, alighting quietly near the margin 

 of the pond. Here he stood motionless for nearly a minute, and then trotted 

 through the grass directly to the spot from which I had first flushed him. At 

 this point he stood still for another full minute, during which time he looked 

 all around, seemingly to make sure that the coast was clear. Having satis- 

 fied himself that no active enemy was in sight he stepped forward and bending 

 over uttered a soft call in a low tone, plce-vlee-plee. This call was repeated a 

 second time, and instantly there arose directly in front of him a tiny mouse- 

 like brown form, seemingly rising from out of the very ground. With totter- 

 ing unsteady steps the downy young sandpiper stumbled and fell toward the 

 parent, who continued calling and encouraging it. Upon my sudden appear- 

 ance the old bird gave a quick warning note and at this signal the youngster 

 squatted motionless with neck stretched forward on the ground. Although I 

 knew the exact spot where it disappeared, it was some time before I was able 

 to locate the tiny form, so well did it blend with the clump of reddish muss 

 upon which it had squatted. A careful search revealed no other young sand- 

 pipers, so I returned to my hiding place. This time I had to wait longer for 

 the male to return, and while I was waiting a second sandpiper, which I be- 

 lieved to be the female, arrived but did not go near or call the young. Two or 

 three minutes elapsed this time between the return of the male and the giving of 

 the low call notes, when, as before, another downy young quickly arose at the 

 signal and toddled over to its parent. After this second experience I was forced 

 to change my hiding place, as the male sandpiper refused to return to the young 

 until I moved. He seemed much concerned upon this last visit, probably 

 realizing that it was high time the young should be hovered and warmed. 



I could not understand why all the young had not risen at once in answer 

 to the parent's call, but I noticed that he had in each case gone up to within 

 less than two feet of the one in hiding, and then with lowered head facing 

 the chick, gave the call note. In each case it was the youngster thus directly 

 addressed that responded to the signal and arose. The note of the young was 

 a low rusty squeak, scarcely audible to human ears. It was very similar to the 



