98 THE STILT. 



associatious, consisting perhaps of six or eight pair, takei 

 up its residence during the breeding season. About the 

 first week in May they begin to construct their nests, which 

 are at first slightly formed of a small quantity of old grass, 

 scarcely sufficient to keep the eggs from the wet marsh. 

 As they lay and sit, however, either dreading the rise of 

 the tides, or for some other purpose, the nest is increased 

 in height, with dry twigs of a shrub very common in the 

 marshes, roots of the salt grass, sea-weed, and various other 

 substances, the whole weighing between two and three 

 pounds. This habit of adding materials to the nest aftei 

 the female begins sitting is common to almost all other 

 birds that breed in the marshes. The eggs are four in 

 number, of a dark yellowish clay-colour, thickly marked 

 with large blotches of black. These nests are often placed 

 within fifteen or twenty yards of each other; but the 

 greatest harmony seems to prevail among the proprietors. 



While the females are sitting, the males are either wading 

 through the ponds, or roaming over the adjoining marshes, 

 but should a person make his appearance, the whole collect 

 together in the air, flying with their long legs extended 

 behind them, keeping up a continual yelping note of dicky 

 clickf click. Their flight is steady, and not in short, sud- 

 den jerks, like that of the plover. As they frequently 

 alight on the bare marsh, they drop their wings, stand with 

 their legs half bent, and trembling, as if unable to sustain 

 the burden of their bodies. In this ridiculous posture they 



