4 SCOLOPACID.E. 



The late Mr. E. T. Booth relates the following incident, showing the attach- 

 ment of a Common Sandpiper to its nest * : — " While fishing on the Lyon, in 

 Perthshire, in June 18G7, a Merlin made a sudden dash at a Sandpiper skimming 

 across the river within twenty yards of where I stood. Instantly the bird dived 

 below the surface, and did not emerge again till the shelter of some stunted willow 

 bushes (whose branches overhung the w^ater) had been reached. Forcing my way 

 an hour later through the thick cover to reach a pool lower down the river, I 

 disturbed, in an open space, some living creature that appeared, as it rapidly 

 threaded its way among the shrubs and plants, to be either a rat or a rabbit. On 

 searching closely, I came upon the nest of a Sandpiper with four eggs, and 

 doubtless it was the parent bird that had attracted my attention. A collector of 

 eggs who happened to be present was anxious to secure the clutch as specimens, 

 and immediate steps were taken to ensure the safety of his treasures till our 

 return from fishing. A stoat or two had shown themselves in a stone dyke near 

 the river-bank, and, in order to guard against an attack by these destructive 

 animals, a covering of coarse grass was first laid across the nest, and next a heap 

 of sand and small stones was cautiously spread over to the depth of several inches. 

 Late in the evening, on making our way to remove the eggs, we were much 

 astonished on discovering that the bird had returned to its nest, and, in no manner 

 disconcerted by the change effected, had scraped off the sand and grass and was 

 again sitting." 



Messrs. Buckley and Harvic-Brown give the following instance of the 

 intelligence displayed by this Sandpiper in protecting its eggs f : — " Mr. Irvine- 

 Fortescue informs us that he once flushed a Sandpiper off her nest after a heavy 

 night's rain. The nest was filled with Avater, while the two eggs were up on the 

 edge of the nest. The bird, finding the water rising in the nest, must have 

 pushed the eggs up out of the nest, and then continued sitting on them." 



In his description of bird-life on the Border moors between England and 

 Scotland, Mr. Abel Cliapman writes as follows with reference to this species J : — 



" May 15th This is also the date when the Sandpipers lay. As already 



mentioned, these charming little waders appear on every tarn and river, about the 

 end of April, and no bird, not even the Swallow, is more intimately associated 

 with the return of summer, than is this cliecry and graceful little angler's 

 companion By mid-May, the Sandpipers have laid their four pretty eggs 



* ' Eough Notes on Birds observed in the British Islands,' vol. ii. 



t ' A Vertebrate Fauna of the Orkney Ishuuls,' p. 219. 



t ' Bird-life of the Borders ' (Loudon : Gurney & Jackson, 1889), pp. 41, 42. 



