11 



COMMON SANDPIPER. 



SUMMER SNIPE. SPOTTED SANDPIPER. SAND LARK. SAND LAVEOCK. 



PLATE CLXVH. FIG. I. 



Tringa liypoleucos, PENNANT. MONTAGU. 



Totanus hypoleucos, FLEMING. SELBT. 



NIDIFICATION commences 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 well hidden in a tuft of grass 

 or rushes, or among the lower branches of willows and osiers, so as 

 to be difficult to find. 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 light blue ground colour, with 

 minute brown spots all over; others with large blots of deep brown. 

 They are, as those of other waders, admirably adapted, both by their 

 form and their position in the nest, to occupy the smallest possible 

 degree of space, as rendered expedient by their large size in proportion 

 to that of the bird. The young are hatched in about fourteen days, 

 and leave the nest almost immediately. They quickly learn to hide 

 themselves in the nearest covert, and in about a month are able to 

 shift for themselves. 



