282 



AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



attractive and it is to birds too, for quantities of various kinds nest 

 there. It is in a small hollow separated from a large lake by a small 

 pine covered ridge; in this hollow is a small pond hole, surrounded on 

 two sides by cultivated fields, on the third by a meadow carpeted with 

 tall grass, and on the fourth by scrub pines which extend down from 

 the ridge. 



Photo from life by C. A. Heed. 

 Sometimes she tmuld rise and carefully tread tier eims about until all ivere turned over. 



These birds first appear here the first week in May, and for the 

 succeeding two weeks the air resounds with their fife-like notes as they 

 chase each other about or call from the lake side. They skim over the 

 surface of the pond with that peculiar tremulous flutter of the down- 

 curved wings, peculiar to Sandpipers, and sometimes chase one another 

 over the fields with a flight very similar to that of the swallows. 



Before the end of May they are mated and have selected the spot for 

 their home. Their nest building is a very simple task, for having found 

 a small hollow that suites their taste, the female has but to sit in it and 

 turn about a few times, to make the dried grass conform to the shape 



