COMMON SANDPIPER 



SUMMER SNIPE SPOTTED SANDPIPER SAND LARK- 

 SAND LAVEROCK. 



PLATE CLXVIL FIGURE I. 



Tringa hypoleucos, . . . PENNANT. MONTAGU. 

 Totanus hypoleucos, . . . FLEMING. SELBY. 

 Tringoides hypokucos, . . BONAPARTE. 



/ "~T S HIS bird, which is distributed throughout the British 

 1 Islands and Europe generally, commences to breed 

 about the middle of April. 



The nest is slight a collection of a few leaves, a little 

 moss or dry grass, in a hollow in a bank, in a tuft of grass 

 or tussock of rushes, upon a bed of gravel, or even on a 

 bare rock, the eggs being kept together by only a very 

 slight inequality in the surface. It is generally thus sheltered 

 or protected, on one side at least. It is usually built near 

 the water's edge, but sometimes in an adjoining field, always 

 above the highest water-mark. It is usually well hidden 

 in a tuft of grass or rushes, or among the lower branches 

 of willows and osiers. The same pair, if undisturbed, will 

 return for several successive seasons to their accustomed 

 building-place. 



The eggs, four in number, are of a reddish-white or 

 cream-yellow tint, spotted and speckled with dark brown, 



and other marks of a lighter hue. Some are of a clear very 



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