The Spotted Sandpiper 223 



scattered, not in compact bodies, like various other Sandpipers, though individ- 

 uals are sometimes found associated with flocks of other species. When alarmed, 

 the scattered company starts suddenly from the shore, with reverberating 'peet- 

 weet' cries, circles out over the water, and returns to a spot not very far from 

 the starting-point. Here they are sometimes pursued by gunners, and become 

 really quite shy, though ordinarily they are tame enough. 



On the small inland waters there is but one species with which it could 

 readily be confounded. This is the so-called SoUtary Sandpiper, a bird not at 

 all plentiful, which appears, usually singly or in pairs, as a migrant in May and 

 in August and September. A careful observer will readily distinguish them. 

 Once I had a fine opportunity to see both species together and note the differ- 

 ences. It was in late July, on Lake Chautauqua, New York, on the grounds of 

 the Chautauqua Institution. The bird-study class was out before breakfast, 

 and was delighted to see, on a sand-flat, quite a flock of shore-birds, — Kildeers, 

 Spotted Sandpipers, and several Solitary Sandpipers, more of the latter than 

 I had ever seen before together. Behind some large trees we made a close 

 approach, and could see splendidly the distinctions. The Solitary Sandpipers 

 were a trifle larger, darker on the back, and with green legs instead of the 

 yellowish hue of those of the Spotted Sandpiper. They were also quieter in 

 voice and manner than the latter. 



During the last half of May we are liable to happen upon the 

 Nest earlier sets of eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper. Under a bunch of 



weeds or in the shelter of coarse grass, a few yards or rods back from 

 the shore of a pond or stream, is perhaps the likeliest site. Often the chosen 

 spot will be almost anywhere in a moist pasture, or even back in a field of 

 potatoes or corn. Time and again I have found nests on islands, both in lake 

 and ocean. In such cases the birds seem to colonize, and there may be upwards 

 of a dozen or twenty nests on one islet. On sea islands they build in a tussock 

 growing from the crevice of the rock, and may be seen running nervously over 

 the rocks, teetering, as usual. 



Some nests are concealed very carefully, amid thick foliage, while others 

 are merely in the shade of some straggling weed. The best concealment is 

 afforded by the demure little brownish bird that blends so perfectly with the 

 color of the ground, and sits so motionless upon her treasures. But let one 

 innocently walk quite, close, and away she goes, with the shrill 'peet-weet' 

 alarm. The secret is out, and there the trespasser may examine the four eggs, 

 large for the size of the bird, whose creamy-white background is plentifully 

 sprinkled with dark brown spots, especially at the larger end. 



One day, early in June, my wife and son were following an overgrown cart- 

 path, just in from the bank of a river, and flushed one of these Sandpipers from 

 a nest with four eggs, situated under a smaU clump of weeds. Close to it was 

 a pile of slag and rock, dumped from an old foundry many years before. It 

 seemed to me, when I examined it, an ideal place to secure photographs of the 



