NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 133 



beyond our limits, in Mexico, Central and South America and in the 

 West Indies. A common or abundant bird during. the migrations. Al- 

 though common, the eggs of this species have been until a comparatively 

 recent date of special desideratum, and only a few specimens are as yet 

 to be found in the numerous collections. Mr. Capin, in his superb work, 

 "Oology of New England," describes and figures an egg collected at 

 Lake Bombazine. Castleton, Vt., May 28, 1878, by Mr. Jenness Richard- 

 son. The ground-color is light drab, finely spotted with dark brown and 

 slate-colored shell markings over the entire surface; pyriform in shape, 

 and measures J. 37 by .95. The nest from which this egg was taken was 

 a mere depression in the ground, partly sheltered by a thicket of small 

 hemlocks, in a swampy tract of land of several acres. While out collect- 

 ing one day in the latter part of May, 1877, on the banks of the Scioto 

 River, Ohio, a boy came to me with an egg v/hich he had found in a nest 

 on the ground; there were two in the nest and he had just smashed one. 

 Dr. Wheaton, in his " Report on the Birds of Ohio," says of this egg: 

 " Though without any positive claims, possesses characters which entitle 

 it to consideration, as possibly that of this species. It is of a pointed 

 oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as are the eggs of most of this 

 family, and measures 1.25 by .88, so that it is smaller than the eggs of 

 the Spotted Sandpiper. The ground color is clay-color with a reddish 

 tinge, thickly marked with reddish and blackish-brown. The nest was on the 

 ground in as exposed a locality as is ever frequented by this bird. It con- 

 tained two eggs, both far advanced in incubation, only one of which was 

 preserved. The fragments of this egg are now in the collection of the 

 Smithsonian Institution." The Solitary Sandpiper is well named, when 

 its personal habits or the localities which it frequents are considered. It 

 is found, except during and shortly after the breeding season, about small 

 ponds in woods, remote shaded ditches or small brooks, just such localities 

 as are frequented by the Water Thrush. 



552. Willet — symphemia semipalmata. Varying from a brownish- 

 olive to a greenish or grayish-white, marked with bold spots of various 

 shades of umber-brown, with obscure shell-markings. They are less point- 

 edly pyriform than the .eggs of the smaller Tattlers and Sandpipers; almost 

 invariably four in number; size from 1.90 to 2.15 long by 1.45 to 1.58 

 broad. The Semipalmated Tattler or Willet is found throughout tem- 

 perate North America, north to about 56°, but chiefly in United States, 

 breeding throughout its United States range. It is resident in the South- 

 ern States. It breeds in pairs or small companies in fresh or salt marshes; 

 building quite a bulky nest in a tussock of grass just out of the water, 



