568 Bonaparte's sandpiper. 



Authenticated eggs obtained by Mr. MacFarlane on the barren- 

 grounds near the Arctic coast, have a rufous-drab ground-colour, 

 and are boldly blotched with dark brown, especially at the larger 

 end : average measurements i"35 by "95 in. The complete clutch 

 consists of 4, and the nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined 

 with a few decayed leaves. Dr. E. Coues says he has frequently 

 observed this bird on rocky shores covered with sea-weed and 

 moist with the falling spray ; and that of all American Sandpipers 

 it is the most gentle and confiding. When startled, it emits a soft, 

 low -d'cd, different from the note of any other wader, flying off 

 in very compact flocks in a vacillating manner, alternately showing 

 the upper and under parts, and being easily recognized on the 

 wing by the conspicuously white upper tail-coverts. It usually 

 associates with Semipal mated Sandpipers and Ring-Plovers, and, in 

 common with other small species, is known by the name of 'peep'; 

 Rodd remarked that the call of those killed in Cornwall was shorter 

 and sharper than that of the Dunlin. The food consists of insects, 

 small crustaceans, marine animals (Src, and with us, as in America, 

 the bird appears to be partial to rocks which are covered with sea- 

 weed and slope down to the water. 



The adult in summer has a white streak over the eye ; feathers 

 of the upper parts ash-brown with dark centres, the edges being 

 grey and rufous ; quills dusky-brown ; rump dark ash-brown ; 

 upper tail-coverts chiefly zvhite, though -streaked laterally with brown, 

 the central pair — which are not conspicuous — being dark ; the two 

 central tail-feathers dark brown, pointed, and longer than the rest, 

 which are ash-brown ; chin white ; cheeks, neck, upper breast 

 and flanks greyish-white, speckled and streaked with dusky- 

 brown ; axillaries, belly and under tail-coverts white ; bill very short, 

 straight, and nearly black ; legs and feet dark olive. The female is 

 a trifle the larger and more richly coloured. Length 7*5 ; wing 

 4"8 in. In winter the mantle is brownish-grey, and the streaks on 

 the breast &c. are less sharply defined. The young are more 

 mottled with white and rufous on the back, while the throat and 

 breast are suffused with buff. 



