380 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFOBNIA 



appear and then disappear at intervals of a few seconds. So per- 

 feetl}' and in accord do the individuals comprising a flock perform 

 these evolutions, that one is tempted to believe that they are in some 

 way mechanically connected. That this habit may prove disastrous 

 to individuals is shown by the fact that dead birds have been found 

 beneath telephone wires strung across marshes. 



Single individuals seem on the whole to be more wary and apt to 

 take wing at longer distances than birds in flocks. Individuals or 

 small groups of this species sometimes flock with other waders, notably 

 "Western and Red-backed sandpipers ; and various observers have 

 noted them flocking with, and "running about beneath," some of 

 the shore birds of still greater size. 



The nesting season of the Least Sandpiper seems to begin later 

 and to occupy a longer period than that of many of its kindred, this 

 in spite of the fact that the Least often arrives in its breeding area, 

 in the far north, in advance of many of the other species. Some- 

 times it appears before the ground is anywhere nearly free from 

 snow. The following nesting records given by Macoun and Macoun 

 (1909, pp. 176, 177) indicate the extent of the nesting season: Mag- 

 dalen Islands, June 13, female flushed from nest ; Lake Marsh, Yukon, 

 July 2, downy young ; Labrador, July 20, nest and eggs ; Cypress Hills, 

 Saskatchewan, August 2, very young birds. 



The nest, as found on the Magdalen Islands, Quebec, is usually 

 placed on grass-covered, water-soaked, hummocky ground, and con- 

 sists of a depression lined with dead leaves or grasses so that the eggs 

 are well separated from the damp ground beneath. The eggs are de- 

 posited on consecutive days, and incubation does not commence until 

 the set is complete. All the eggs, in one observed case, hatched witlnn 

 a period of twenty-four hours or less (Moore, 1912, pp. 210, 211). 



The eggs are usually four in number, pear-shaped, and measure 

 in inches. 1.04 to 1.18 by 0.79 to 0.87 and average 1.14 by 0.83. The 

 ground color is a light drab, tliinly marked with superficial spots of 

 sepia brown and deeper markings of grayish brown or ashy. The 

 markings are more numerous about the larger end of the egg (Baird, 

 Brewer and Ridgway, 1884, I, p. 240). 



During the nesting season birds of this species are to be seen 

 perched on various prominent objects in the near vicinity of the nest, 

 such as rocks, trees, stumps, and even fences. There is a song-flight 

 similar to that of other small sandpipers. After incubation begins, 

 the sitting bird will often crouch down and attempt to escape observa- 

 tion by remaining quiet on the nest. If this does not avail, the bird 

 Avill run fifteen feet or more from the nest, then, if necessary, fly off 

 close to the surface of the ground, with a wliirring flight, resembl- 

 ing that of a quail ; but the flight sometimes recalls that of a Wilson 



