2 SCOLOPACID^. 



"Mr. MacFarlane found the nests of this species, lined with decayed leaves, 

 on the Lower Anderson River ; and in some instances they were near the edge of 

 a small lake. Others were taken at Fort Anderson, some as early as June 2. 

 The nests were all mere depressions, with a very scanty lining. The usual number 

 of the eggs was four. In several instances the male bird was seen to perch on 

 trees near the nest, in the manner of the Common Snipe. Some were already 

 hatched by the 19th of June. When the pair had young, they were very noisy, 

 going constantly before the intruder from tree to tree for several hundred yards 

 beyond their nest. The young, even when just hatched, run and hide in the short 

 grass, so as to make it difficult to find them, the parents, in the meanwhile, flying 

 and screaming in the air above." 



Dr. E. Coues gives the following description of the eggs of the Yellow- 

 shank*: — "They are three or four in number, narrowly and pointedly pyriform, 

 measuring from 1'58 by 1T8, to 1"78 by l-lo ; the longest eggs not being always 

 also the broadest. The ground is a clean clay-color, sometimes tending more to 

 buff" or creamy, sometimes rather to light brown. The marking is bold and heavy, 

 but presents the customary great diversity, some eggs being very heavily splashed 

 with blotches confluent about the larger end, while others have smaller clean- 

 edged spots all over the surface. The markings are ricli umber-brown, often 

 tending to chocolate, sometimes almost blackish. The paler shell-markings are 

 usually numerous and noticeable. An occasional ' albino ' egg is seen, whitish, with 

 scarcely any markings. All the many eggs examined are from Arctic America." 



* ' Birds of the Xortb-West,' p. 498. 



