By Upland Shrauis. 3 1 



keepers not distinguishing between them. We 

 have heard the Sandpiper called a "Water-crow" 

 in various parts of Skye especially. Few birds 

 evince more anxiety at the nest, or when their help- 

 less chicks are just abroad. For the newly-laid 

 eggs w^e cannot recall an instance of this species 

 displaying any concern; but when those eggs are 

 deeply incubated or the young hatched out the be- 

 haviour of the female bird especially becomes very 

 different. She will feign a broken wing or lameness, 

 or endeavour to draw all attention upon herself by 

 running just out of reach of any observer foolish 

 enough to give pursuit. But once the young birds 

 have concealed themselves the parent flies away, or 

 circles about in the air, generally being joined by 

 her mate. The four handsome pear-shaped eggs- 

 pale buff, splashed and spotted with rich brown and 

 gray — in their scanty nest, usually made beneath 

 the shelter of a heath tuft or bunch of grass, require 

 no special protection from the parent, for they har- 

 monize so closely in tint with surrounding objects 

 that discovery is difficult in the extreme, even when 

 we know the exact location of their resting-place. 

 Curiously enough the Sandpiper is not aquatic in 

 its habits. It never swims nor dives save when 

 wounded, but obtains its food whilst tripping round 

 the muddy and sandy portions of the water's edge. 

 In early summer, just after their arrival, the cock 



