272 BULLETIN 14 6^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



this the psychological result on our part was the same. A person would invol- 

 untarily recoil when the bird " exploded " like a flrecracker right in his face. 



When first frightened off the nest by Mr. Wright the previous afternoon the 

 bird, which we later thought might have been the female, after " exploding," 

 ran away with wings half spread and the tail spread out fanlike and dragging 

 on the ground. This displayed conspicuously the white rump patch. Now and 

 then this bird would nestle down as though covering a nest. When about 

 100 yards distant from the nest the bird began to wander about, pretending to 

 feed. It exhibited no concern whatever when Mr. Wright returned to the nest 

 and examined the eggs. It made no attempt to return to the nest even after 

 the observer had retired to a distance and waited for a period of 10 minutes, 

 during which interval rain began to fall. 



In marked contrast with this rather indifferent attitude, the bird which 

 was watched on the nest for 16 hours, behaved in an entirely different manner. 

 This second bird, when forced off the nest, would fly directly up into the 

 intruder's face, and then run off to one side, a distance of 8 or 10 feet, where 

 it would perch on a rock, fluff out its feathers like a " sitting " hen and 

 utter a low plaintive call, tee-tee-teet ! The call would often be repeated two 

 or three times after a slight pause of half a minute between calls. When we 

 started after this bird it would lead us adroitly away from the nest; but 

 if we stood still it would soon hustle directly back, even when we were stand- 

 ing only 10 feet distant. In going on to the nest the bird was very careful 

 not to step directly upon the eggs. It would trot up to within a foot or so of 

 the eggs and then sneak cautiously down to the edge of the nest. Here it 

 would stop, inspect the eggs, and reach out with its bill and turn the eggs 

 about, keeping them little ends down. Following this inspection the bird 

 fluffed out the feathers on its breast and sitting down gently on the edge of 

 the nest, slid its body forward with great care, until the eggs were completely 

 covered. 



Eggs. — I have not yet seen these eggs, so I will quote Mr. Dixon's 

 (1927) excellent description of them: 



The eggs of the surf bird are not easily confused with the eggs of any other 

 North American sandpiper or plover. In shape they are pyriform but, though 

 similar in form to eggs of other birds of the order Limicolae, in color they 

 appear more like eggs of the falcons, particularly certain eggs of the sparrow 

 hawk and prairie falcon. 



In the type set, which is now safely housed in the well-known Thayer 

 collection, there is considerable variation both in the ground color and in the 

 markings of the eggs. Three eggs of this set have an intensely huffy ground 

 color, while the fourth egg is of the same color but decidedly lighter. The 

 markings on the three eggs are bold, varying in color from fawn to bay. The 

 markings on the fourth egg are small and evenly distributed. The four 

 eggs may be described as follows: The first egg has a light ground color 

 which equals tilleul-buff. In this egg the marking consists of fine splashes, 

 one-half to two millimeters in length. There is but slight tendency for the 

 markings to form a wreath on the larger end. A few small dark brown spots 

 on its larger end identifies this egg, which resembles slightly certain eggs of 

 the yellow-billed magpie. In egg number two the ground color is rich tilleul- 

 buff, while the markings consist of bold bay-colored spots and splashes from 

 one-half to three millimeters in length. These spots are concentrated about 

 the larger end of the egg, where in places they are so dense as completely 

 to obscure the ground color. A few deep-seated lavender under-shell markings 



