NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS EGGS. 



121 



[Clay-colored.] 



256. Solitary Sandpiper. Helodromas solitarius. 



Range. Eastern North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States 

 boundary, but apt to be found nesting in any part of its range; winters south 

 of the United States. 



A bird with a greenish gray back, barred with white, 

 and white below; length 8.5 inches. This species is 

 one of the oddities among the waders. They are 

 most always met with, singly or in pairs, and are very 

 rarely seen, even in very small flocks. Their prefer- 

 ence is for small ponds or streams in wet woods or 

 open meadows, rather than marshes which are fre- 

 quented by other species. They are occasionally seen 

 during the nesting season, even in the southern parts 

 of their range, and they probably breed there although 

 their eggs are very rarely found. The eggs are clay- 

 colored, spotted with brownish black. Data. Simco 

 Island, Kingston, Ontario, June 10, 1898. 5 eggs in a shallow depression on 

 the ground, lined with a few grasses. Collector, Dr. C. K. Clarke. This set is 

 in the collection of Mr. Childs. 



256a. Western Solitary Sandpiper. Helodromas solitarius tinnauiimu H*. 



Range. North America, west of the Plains; breeds in British Columbia and 

 probably south of there, also. 



This bird is like the last, except that the spots on the back are buffy instead 

 of white. Its nest and eggs will not differ in any respect from those of the 

 eastern form. 



[257.] Green Sandpiper. Helodromas ochropus. 



This species, which very closely resembles our Solitary Sandpiper, is common 

 in the northern parts of the Old World. It has only accidentally strayed to our 

 shores. 



258. Willet. Symphemia semipalmata. 



Range. Eastern United States, breeding north to the Middle States and 

 occasionally straying to the Canadian border, especially in the Mississippi 

 Valley. 



These large waders are among the 

 most abundant of the marsh or beach 

 birds. They breed in small companies 

 in marshes, frequently in those which 

 are covered with water at high tide, 

 building a frail nest of grasses and 

 weeds, where it will be barely out of 

 reach of the highest water. The three 

 or four eggs have a brownish, or some- 

 times greenish, buff ground color and 

 are blotched with umber, and have 

 fainter markings of lilac. Size 2.00 x 

 1.50. Data. Sandy Bank, South Car- 

 olina, May 3, 1901. Nest on the ground, 

 secreted in the high grass. Made of 

 dead marsh grass, lined with finer 

 grasses. Collector, M. T. Cleckley. 



