PLATE I 

 COMMON SANDPIPER. Totanus hypoleucus 



I nne 12//1, 1895. This nest was built among the blaeberries on the side of 

 the road near Loch Morlich, Glenmore Forest, Strathspey. The whole place 

 s\\;irmed with Sandpipers, and I came across no less than seven nests during 

 niv walk round one side of the loch, and saw many more pairs whose nests 

 I was unable to find. 



The birds nearly always chose the far side of the road from the loch, 

 and betrayed the whereabouts of their nests by running across the road to 

 the edge of the loch, sometimes fluttering along with their tails spread out 

 like a fan and trailing on the ground. 



One nest which I found contained four young ones newly hatched, and 

 the anxiety of the poor little parent-birds was most touching. They fluttered 

 and tumbled about on the ground, making a sort of squeaking noise like 

 ' weee-ee-ee,' sometimes rolling over and kicking with their legs and flapping 

 with one wing, often coming within a foot or two of me in their anxiety to 

 draw me away from the nest. Most of the eggs I found were hard sat, but 

 one very handsomely-marked clutch was quite fresh. I followed one bird for 

 some distance as she led me along, tumbling over on the ground, and when 

 she had succeeded in getting me about fifty yards from the nest, she suddenly- 

 rose in the air with a joyful ' weeet-wecet ,' and joined her mate on the shore 

 some distance away. 



VOL. ii. i 33 



