154 Thayer, Eggs of the Spoon-bill Sandpiper. [.April 



the Spoon-bill Sandpiper. The parent bird, with the nest and 

 eggs, was taken; also photographs. The nest was in the tundra, 

 well concealed, especially so when the bird was incubating. Un- 

 fortunately this was the only set taken, as the season was advanced, 

 it being then July 15. Captain Kleinschmidt took eight downies 

 a few days old, which I have in my collection. The set of eggs 

 was nearly incubated. The measurements are as follows : 1.20 X 

 .92; 1.22 X .90; 1.20 X .88; 1.30 X .90 inches. I hope next year 

 to collect many sets of this interesting bird as I shall send Mr. 

 Koren to Cape Serdze in the spring. 



The following is taken from a letter I received from Captain 

 Kleinschmidt: " I was in hopes that I could get five or six clutches 

 of the Spoon-bills, so I took all kinds of chances with my boat 

 in the ice on the Siberian coast. I found, however, but one set 

 of eggs and they were just ready to hatch. 



"The male is the parent bird of the eggs, but the female belongs 

 to neither eggs or downies, simply because the habits of this 

 Sandpiper are similar to those of the Phalarope. The male has 

 to stay at home, keep house and attend to the young, while the 

 female thinks she has done all that is necessary by merely fulfilling 

 the duties nature demands of her, namely the laying of the eggs. 

 I shot the female in close proximity of the nest, but we never found 

 a female with the downies. It was always the male. Although 

 our observations were limited to but a few, still I believe the male 

 solely attends to the hatching and the rearing of the young. The 

 female also is larger than the male. 



" The nest as well as the downies were found on the gentle slope 

 of the tundra, bordering small fresh-water ponds. The nest was 

 a rounded hollow in the moss, thickly lined with dry willow leaves. 

 The downies blend so perfectly with the color of the moss that the 

 closest scrutiny will scarcely reveal their hiding place. My pic- 

 tures were not a success. I did n't have the adequate camera. 

 I am sending you, however, two copies of each. On one I have 

 traced the bird so you may find him in the other." 



If this is true, that the male incubates instead of the female, 

 it is extremely interesting. In looking over my series of fourteen 

 skins, all adults, I find the females are larger and their mandibles 

 noticeablv so. 



