DELAWARE VALLEY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 3? 



arrangement of materials which so often is the most conspicuous 

 feature of a nest. Looking more closely, I was delighted to 

 see the four blue eggs of a Veery. The birds were silent and 

 invisible, and remained so until our departure from the place. 

 Their action in this case, or rather the lack of action, probably 

 explains why the Veery's nest has the reputation of being a 

 hard one to find. The birds simply do not help in any way. 

 One prominent feature of our trijj has as yet scarcely been 

 mentioned. This was the weather. If such a complicated 

 thing could be indicated by one word, that word would be rain, 

 writ large. Rain we had morning, noon-time and night, 

 though not continuously, of all sizes, from mist to heavy down- 

 pours, varied by one brisk hail-storm, and sometimes accom- 

 panied by most impressive thunder. After the hail, we were 

 interested in revisiting the nests which we had found. Not one 

 had been injured. Although the gates were open, the lake soon 

 began to respond to the prodigious rainfall. While the water 

 was rising, we found the nest and four eggs of a Spotted Sand- 

 piper, placed between the temjiorary level of the lake, and 

 high-water mark. We watched with much solicitude to see 

 whether or not this housekeeping venture would be spoiled. 

 The evening before our departure there still seemed to be a pos- 

 sibility of escape, but the next morning, as we were homeward 

 bound, we found the eggs floating in about six inches of water. 

 They were of no further use to the parents, so I gathered them 

 up, and after a time placed them in cotton within a cracker-box, 

 and stuffed the whole into a coat pocket. Late that evening I 

 had the eggs spread upon a table at home, when I heard a 

 clicking sound, and was astonished to find that one of the eggs 

 was hatching ! But little progress was made before bed-time, 

 so a lamp was arranged in such a way as to furnish heat all 

 night. By next morning we had a little Sandpiper. We dried 

 him by means of a hot-water bag, and with many misgivings 

 began his raising and education. The great difficulty was the 

 supply and administering of food. The little fellow had no 

 notion of picking upi anything from the groimd. The only 

 motion which seemed like an attempt to secure food was an 

 upward wriggling of the head and neck, as if to meet the beak of 



