38 Sketches of Some Conwion Birds. 



the movements of the suspected person. Immediateljr" 

 after alighting it lifts up both wings, and holds them 

 out from the body for a moment before folding them, 

 greatly like the actions of the sparrow hawks when they 

 settle from flight. We readily perceive the aptness of its 

 popular name of "grass plover," for a large portion of its 

 time is spent in running over the short grass. Its prefer- 

 ence for pastures, meadows, old fields, and uplands gen- 

 erally has been remarked by those who know this bird as 

 the "upland plover." In the West it is known as the 

 "prairie pigeon" and "prairie snipe." In this section its 

 commonest appellation is "field plover." 



These birds begin to nest in central Illinois soon after 

 the first of May, and the breeding season is prolonged into 

 June, though only one brood is reared, except in rare in- 

 stances. The nest is always situated on the ground, and 

 is therefore difficult to find, unless it is disclosed when the 

 female is startled from it, or when the bird is seen to enter 

 it — the latter case being exceptional, since the birds run 

 in the grass so irregularly. Nidification is not a very 

 complicated process with the sandpipers, as they ordinarily 

 find a depression beside a tuft which pleases the fancy of 

 the female, and the dried grass of which the habitation is 

 made can be scraped together in a short time. As build- 

 ing sites low meadows are most favored, and pastures con- 

 taining ponds, or broad, shallow ditches, though the nest 

 is commonly placed on the higher ground of the area. 

 The architectural ideas of the sandpiper are similar to 

 those of the meadow lark, but usually the nest is not so 

 well sheltered by a grassy dome. Davie says: " The eggs 

 of Bartram's sandpiper are of pale clay or buff, thickly 

 spotted with umber and yellowish-brown, especially about 

 the larger end; commonly four in number; sizes range 

 from 1.70 to 1.90 long, by about 1.28 broad." 



The description of the Bartramian sandpiper given by 

 Dr. Coues in his " Birds of the Northwest " is so interesting 

 that we take pleasure in quoting his account of the young 

 birds. He says that they "are curious little creatures, 

 timid and weak, led about by their anxious parents, so- 

 licitous for their welfare, and ready to engage in the most 

 unequal contests in their behalf. When half grown, but 



