134 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



the nest being raised to as much as five and six inches; composed of 

 rushes, reeds and grass. 



555. Bartram's Sandpiper; Field Plover — bartramia ldngicauda. 

 Pale clay or buff, thickly spotted with umber and yellowish-brown, 

 especially about the larger end; commonly four in number; size from 1.70 

 to 1.90 long by about 1.28 broad. Bartram's Sandpiper inhabits North 

 America at large, but is rare west of the Rocky Mountains. Breeds from 

 the middle districts northward, and winters south of United States. This 

 elegant species is very numerous on the prairies of the interior and com- 

 mon eastward. It is a favorite game bird and large numbers are annually 

 killed for the table. It is less aquatic than most of the other Sandpipers, 

 frequenting old pastures, upland fields, stubble fields and meadows, and 

 seldom seen along the banks of streams. Nests on the ground in a slight 

 hollow. This bird has the frequent habit in spring of alighting on the 

 tops of fences, like the Meadow Lark, and seem to act as sentinels for the 

 flock feeding below. It has often been seen to perch on the tops of trees. 

 Bartram's Tattler, Upland "Plover," Grass "Plover" and Prairie Pigeon 

 are its other names. 



556. Buff-breasted Sandpiper — tryngites rufescens. Clay color of 

 various shades, sharply spotted and blotched with rich umber-brown ; 

 there is a great diversity in the shades of the ground color in a large series 

 of specimens, and there is also the same variations in the markings; the 

 eggs are pointedly pyriform in shape; commonly four in number, and 

 measure from 1.40 to 1.50 long by 1.02 to i.io broad. This interesting 

 little Sandpiper is of general distribution in North America, but apparently 

 nowhere very common. It is migratory in the United States and breeds 

 in the Arctic regions. Winters South of United States. A specimen 

 which I shot August 31, 1876, now in the museum of the Ohio State 

 University, was in company with Semipalmated Plover and Semipalmated 

 Sandpipers, on a gravelly bank of the Scioto River. The Buff breasted 

 is said, however, to resemble the preceding species in frequenting upland 

 fields and meadows. 



557. Spotted Sandpiper — tringoides macularius. Of a creamy, buff 

 or clay color, blotched, spotted and dotted with blackish-brown; usually 

 four in number, and measure about. 1.34 by .92. The nest of this Sand- 

 piper is made on the ground, usually in the shelter of high weeds or grass 

 on a sandy island or border of a cultivated meadow, near water, and often 

 at a considerable distance from any water. It is simply a mere depression 



