SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 547 



to draw me away by the exhibition of all those little arts 

 which they practise for this purpose. On examining the spot 

 I was very much surprised to find that the poor thing had 

 not only hollowed out a new nest, but had actually succeeded 

 in abstracting two eggs from the other nest. How the bird 

 had contrived to remove the eggs I cannot conceive, as the 

 stones remained unaltered. This attachment to its nest and 

 eggs appeared to me more singular as the bird had but just 

 commenced incubation, the eggs exhibiting very little appear- 

 ance of the young." 



Two eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper, given me by Mr. Au- 

 dubon, very closely resemble those of our Common Sand- 

 piper, being about one inch four lines long, by one inch in 

 width ; of a pale reddish white, spotted and speckled with ash 

 grey, and two shades of reddish brown. 



This bird is smaller than our Common Sandpiper, but so 

 like it in the general colour and markings of the plumage on 

 the upper surface of the body, that the distinctions only need 

 be noticed. The beak is shorter and paler in colour both at 

 the point as well as at the base ; the dark streak on the fea- 

 thers of the back seems more confined to the transverse di- 

 rection, and is not so often conspicuous down the line of the 

 shaft of the feather ; the secondaries are tipped with white as 

 in the Common Sandpiper, but the feathers are longer ; in 

 the tail five feathers on each side have white tips, and only 

 one feather on each outside of the tail has the outer web 

 white, barred with greenish black ; the chin white ; the 

 throat, neck, breast, and all the under parts, even to the 

 ends of the under tail-coverts white, but ornamented with 

 numerous well defined round spots of dusky greenish brown ; 

 the legs and toes, flesh colour ; the claws, brown. 



The whole length about six inches and three quarters. 

 From the carpal joint to the end of the wing four inches ; 

 the first quill-feather the longest in the wing. 



2 N 2 



