NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 149 



fighting are said to be something like a game cock. Breeds throughout the greater 

 portion of Scandinavia and in Denmark. In Lapland it arrives in the last week of 

 May where it is found along the margin of lakes and rivers; later in the season it 

 may be found hiding in the tall grass of the marshes. The nest is usually placed on 

 a slight elevation in swampy places surrounded by coarse grass of which material it 

 is composed. The eggs are four in number and average 1.60x1.09. Four eggs in my 

 cabinet from England measure 1.64x1.17, 1.79x1.20, 1.64x1.18, 1.75x1.12. They are of 

 an oblong pyriform shape; the ground color is of an olive or grayish-green; the 

 markings are the same as those of the American Jack Snipe eggs but are heavier 

 and more profuse with spots and blotches of umber and blackish-brown. 



261. BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER. Bartramia lonyicauda (Bechst.) Geog. 

 Dist. Eastern North America, north to Nova Scotia and Alaska. Breeds through- 

 cut its range. South in winter as far as Southern South America. 



Bartram's Tattler is distributed more or less abundantly throughout the United 

 States, but is rare west of the Rocky Mountains. Breeds commonly from the middle 

 districts Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas northward, into 

 the Fur Country, and in Alaska. It is very numerous on the prairies of the interior 

 and is also common eastward. It is known as Field "Plover," Upland "Plover," Grass 

 "Plover," Prairie "Pigeon," and Prairie "Snipe." In Ohio and Pennsylvania the 

 eggs are hatched by the first or second week in June. One of the most familiar birds 

 on the dry, open . prairies of Manitoba, where it breeds, and is known as the 

 "Quaily," from its soft, mellow note. Mr. L. Jones, of Grinnell, Iowa, informs me 

 that it nests in that region about the 20th of May. Known to breed in various por- 

 tions of Michigan, but its eggs are not often taken. The bird is less aquatic than 

 most of the other Sandpipers, and is seldom seen along the banks of streams. Its 

 favorite resorts are old pastures, upland, stubble fields and meadows, where its nests 

 may be found in a slight depression of the ground, and they are not always well 

 concealed. It frequently alights on trees or on fences, like a Meadow Lark. The 

 eggs of Bartram's Sandpiper are of a pale clay or buff, thickly spotted with umber 

 and yellowish-brown, especially about the larger end; commonly four in number; 

 sizes range from 1.70 to 1.90 long by about 1.28 broad. 



262. BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. Tryngitcs siibruficollis (Vieill.) Geog. 

 Dist. North America, especially the interior. Breeds in the interior of British 

 America and in Alaska. Occasional occurrence in Europe. 



This interesting little Sandpiper is of general distribution in North America, 

 but apparently nowhere very common. It is migratory in the United States, and 

 breeds in the Arctic regions. Winters south of United States. It is often found in 

 company with the Semipalmated Plovers and Semipalmated Sandpipers on the 

 gravelly banks of rivers. This bird is said to resemble Bartram's Sandpiper in fre- 

 quenting upland fields and meadows. Breeds in the MacFarlane and Anderson River 

 regions and in the Barren Lands of the Arctic coast. The nesting season in these 

 regions is the latter part of June, extending to the middle of July. The bird also 

 breeds in the Yukon River district. The nests are slight depressions in the soil, 

 scantily lined with a few grasses or withered leaves. The eggs are clay color of 

 various shades, sharply spotted and blotched with rich umber-brown; there is a 

 great diversity in the shades of the ground color in a large series of specimens, and 

 there is also the same variations in the markings; the eggs are pointedly pyriform 

 in shape; commonly four in number, and measure from 1.40 to 1.50 long by 1.02 to 

 1.10 broad. 



