158 BULLETIN 14 6^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



with theii- background. This protective coloration is so perfect that in one 

 case a bird deserted its nest and the eggs remained unprotected for three 

 days, during which time jaegers, which were continuously hunting overhead 

 and about, were, even with their sharp eyes, not able to distinguish them. 



The nest is prepared by the female by scratching out in the moss a circular 

 depression some 6 inches in diameter and about lYz inches deep and lining 

 it with a few white sprigs of reindeer moss. Here she lays her four large 

 beautiful eggs, each set showing marked variation in size, shape, and mark- 

 ings. These eggs are distinctive, having a considerably lighter background 

 than those of the golden plover, while the black markings are not so numerous 

 and are more evenly distributed. 



They do not nest in proximity to one another, as of the 40 or more nests 

 observed no two were closer together than a quarter of a mile. The female 

 is anything but a close sitter and departs from the eminence on which the 

 nest is situated long before the intruder arrives. If the eggs are fresh, often 

 neither bird exhibits any interest while a person is at the nest and they do 

 not even make their appearance as long as he remains in their vicinity. As 

 the hatching point approaches, however, the birds become more solicitous, 

 protesting vigorously ; the male develops into a miltant sentry and rushes 

 out to meet the intruder, repeatedly whistling lec-ali in a scolding tone, but 

 staying well out of gun range. He is very combative and drives away any 

 jaeger or large gull that infringes on his area. The female often leaves her 

 eggs to join in the attack, and even the swift-flying long-tailed jaeger can not 

 avoid their onslaughts but beats a hasty retreat. I have seen a male plover 

 strike a jaeger so hard that it reeled unsteadily in mid-air, but the coward 

 made to effort to retaliate. 



Roderick MacFarlane's notes contain the records of seven nests 

 found in the vicinity of Franklin Bay, Mackenzie. The nests were 

 all found between July 4 and 10, in 1864 and 1865. The first was on 

 an island in the bay and was " composed of a few withered grasses, 

 placed in a hole or depression on the side, or face, of a very gentle 

 eminence." At least two other nests were on islands. The female 

 was snared on one nest, but was devoured by a snowy owl, which 

 also ate the four eggs. 



The nesting habits of the grey plover, as this species is called by 

 Europeans, are apparently similar to those of our bird. Henry J. 

 Pearson (1896), who found seven nests on Kolguev, describes them 

 thus: 



The positions of the nests were interesting; only two were on the lower 

 ground near the Gobista ; one was a mile both from the sea and the river ; all 

 the others — also several old nests — were on the tundra not far from the edge 

 of the bluffs which form the margin of the river basin. Grey plovers seem to 

 prefer this position, which gives them good posts of observation and allows them 

 to take their young easily into the marshes below to feed. We found a ready 

 way of locating the nest of this bird was to watch a pair of Richardson's skua 

 hunting over the tundra, for as soon as they approached the nest of the plovers, 

 both the latter rose into the air and drove the skuas away. We never observed 

 these birds breeding near each other, each pair appearing to take iwssession 

 of about a mile of country. All the nests were slight depressions in the peat, 

 lined with a little lichen. 



