246 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



exposed to view. Among the creeping berry vines the bird simply scratches 

 a depression in the sand, and this it lines with a few disconnected grass stems, 

 stiff moss stems, and a handful of tiny, crisp-dried leaves of the cranberry, 

 willow, or dwarf birch. The range of measurements of five nests is : Inside 

 diameter, 2 to 2% inches; inside depth, 1% to 2 inches; total depth, 2^ to 3^ 

 inches. The nest is very fragile and breaks up at once if disturbed. Like all 

 shore birds that nest in the open, the brooding bird is anything but a close 

 sitter, and in consequence the nest must be found by diligent search. An incu- 

 bating female was collected as it departed from the nest. 



Roderick Macfarlane, who found many nests of this species in 

 the Barren Grounds, describes two of them as follows : 



Nest was found between two small lakes — a few withered grasses and 

 leaves in a shallow hole or depression, partly shaded from view by a tuft of 

 grass. The nest was a mere depression in the midst of some hay and lined 

 therewith, as well as with a few withered leaves. 



Winthrop Sprague Brooks (1915) relates his experience in Alaska 

 as follows : 



Thirteen nests were found, the first, a set of three fresh eggs, being taken 

 on June 12. All the nests were essentially alike — mere cavities in damp tundra 

 close to a pool, and lined with dry willow leaves. On seven nests the female 

 was found, and the male on six. Although the male seems to take about an 

 equal share in brooding on the eggs and taking care of the young, I could not 

 see that he d,id this at any particular time, for I could find either sex on 

 the nest at midnight or midday. Neither sex showed any more concern than 

 the other when an intruder was at the nest. In most cases the bird disturbed 

 would flutter along a few yards and then remain walking quietly and watching. 

 On one occasion a female made a great disturbance. Semipalmated sandpipers 

 on the breeding ground are the most gentle and interesting birds of the North. 



Eggs. — [Author'' s note: Four eggs seems to be the invariable rule 

 with the semipalmated sandpiper. They are usually ovate pyriform 

 in shape with a tendency to become subpyriform. The shell is 

 somewhat glossy. The eggs can not with certainty be distinguished 

 from those of the least sandpiper on one hand or the western sand- 

 piper on the other hand ; the measurements overlap with both and the 

 colors and markings intergrade with both. I have 11 sets of semi- 

 palmated, and I can match nearly every one of them with sets from 

 my series of the other two species. In series, however, they much 

 more closely resemble the least sandpiper. 



Herbert W. Brandt has sent me a description of his sets taken 

 in Alaska, which are probably of the normal type, as follows : 



In the six sets before me the ground color is uniformly dull white and is 

 conspicuous. The markings are bold and individual, with most of them 

 round instead of elongate, although there is a slight, spiral tendency. These 

 spots are dark, ranging from " claret brown " to " burnt lake," producing a deep 

 red effect when examined in series. The underlying spots are numerous and 

 rather conspicuous, due to the whitish ground color. They shade from " light 

 Quaker drab " to " Quaker drab." 



