Nest and Eggs of the Solitary Sandpiper. 159 



notes were sent to Mr. Raine, and amongst them was a 

 record of a clutch of Sandpiper's eggs which had been found 

 in an old nest of Turdus migratorius in a tree. When the eggs 

 arrived the first glance shewed that they were new to science. 

 In appearance they much resembled the eggs of Totaniis 

 ochropus, but were considerably smaller. Writing to me 

 on Oct. 9th, 1903, Mr. Raine stated his belief that the 

 eggs would prove to be those of the Solitary Sandpiper, and 

 several American oologists were of the same opinion. How- 

 ever, in the following year he again engaged Mr. Thomson's 

 services, in the hope that another nest might be found 

 and the parent bird secured. The following extract from 

 Mr. Thomson's letter will shew that he was successful in his 

 search : — cf This season on June 9th I found another set of 

 Solitary Sandpiper's eggs, this time in a Grackle's nest in a 

 low tree. I blew the eggs and left them until next day, 

 intending to return with my gun and shoot the bird, but on 

 again visiting the nest I found the eggs gone; evidently 

 the bird had removed them, as I saw no trace of egg-shells 

 around. However, on the 20th of June [? 21th] I was still 

 more fortunate, as I found another clutch and shot the 

 parent bird as she flew from the nest, and secured the four 

 eggs. This time the eggs were found in a Cedar-Waxwing's 

 nest in a spruce-tree in a swamp or muskeg." 



The following description of the nests and eggs is taken 

 from Mr. Raiue's paper in the 'Ottawa Naturalist/ vol. xviii. 

 p. 135 (Oct. 20, 1901) :— 



"Set I. Taken in Northern Alberta, June 16th, 1903, 

 four eggs advanced in incubation, collector Evan Thomson. 

 This set was found in an old nest of the American Robin, 

 built 15 feet up in a tamarac tree that was growing in the 

 middle of a large muskeg dotted with tamaracs. The bird 

 was flushed off the nest, but unfortunately not secured. 

 The eggs are exceedingly handsome and very different from 

 the eggs of any other American Sandpiper. The ground- 

 colour is pale greenish white, heavily blotched and spotted, 

 chiefly at the larger ends, with vandyke-brown, chesnut- 



