122 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



was of a pointed oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as are the eggs 

 of most of this family, size 1.25 by .88, smaller than the eggs of the 

 Spotted Sandpiper. The ground was 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 contained two eggs, both far advanced in incubation, only one of 

 which was preserved. In Jones' magnificent work* this egg is ac- 

 curately figured. 



From comparisons made at the time this specimen could not be 

 referred to any other species than that of the Solitary Sandpiper. 



Dr. Brewer describes an egg^ taken May 28, 1878, by Mr. Jenness 

 Richardson, near Lake Bombazine, Vermont. It measures 1.32 x. 90. 

 The ground color is of a light drab, similar to that of Ai,gialitis 

 meloda ; over the surface are scattered small rounded markings of 

 brown, some of these are quite dark, nowhere confluent, and not large 

 enough to be called blotches. Its shape was elongated pyriform. Mr. 

 Capen, in his finely illustrated work,t gives a faithful colored illus- 

 tration of this specimen. The female parent of this egg was shot as 

 she left the nest. 



[257-] Totanus ochropus (Linn.) [551.] 



Green Sandpiper 



Hab. Northern portions of the Old World. Accidental in Nova Scotia. 



If we may regard the authority of the older ornithologists, Rich- 

 ardson and Nuttall, this bird obtained from them recognition as a 

 straggler to North America. Its claim to our fauna, however, has 

 been restored by the capture of a single specimen, said to have been 

 taken in Nova Scotia, which was in the possession of J. Edmund Hart- 

 ing, Esq. The bird is very similar to our Solitary Tattler and aver- 

 ages slightly larger. It is very generally distributed through Europe 

 and in some places esteemed a great delicacy for the table. Said to 

 breed in all the northern portions of Asia. In England it is consid- 

 ered an abundant bird in spring and fall and a number of pairs remain 

 to breed. Known also as the Whistling Sandpiper. 



It frequents the shores of the sea and inland lakes, the banks of 

 shallow streams and the borders of ponds and marshes. Breeds in 

 various parts of Northwestern Germany and is known to nest in South- 

 eastern France. The Green Sandpiper is said to be very peculiar in its 

 mode of nesting — depositing its eggs in old nests situated in trees 

 and is not known ever to nest on the ground. The nests usually oc- 



'-lUustrations of the Nests and Eggs of Birds of Ohio. Illustrations by Mrs. N. E. Jones: Text by 

 Howard Jones, A. M., M. D., Circlevillc, Ohio, I8S6, 

 tOology of New England: Plate xix. Fig. 6. 



