120 BRITISH BIRDS. 



in ground-colour from white, with the faintest possible tinge of green, to 

 pale creamy buff, speckled, spotted, and blotched with light and dark 

 reddish brown, and with underlying markings of inky grey. The markings 

 are seldom very large, varying in size from that of a small pea to a mere 

 speck, and are most numerous on the large end of the egg. Sometimes 

 the markings are confluent on the large end, gradually becoming scattered 

 over the rest of the surface. They are pyriform in shape, and vary in 

 length from 1'6 to. 1*4 inch, and in breadth from 1'13 to TO inch. They 

 most closely resemble those of the Green Sandpiper, being similar in colour, 

 but on an average those of the latter bird are larger; small examples, 

 however, of those of the Green Sandpiper cannot safely be distinguished 

 from large examples of those of the Common Sandpiper, nor can excep- 

 tionally handsome eggs of the latter bird be distinguished from the plainer 

 varieties of the eggs of the Wood- Sandpiper. 



The Common Sandpiper only rears one brood in the year ; but if the 

 first eggs be taken, others are generally laid, not far from the site of 

 the former nest. No bird is more anxious, or strives more to allure 

 the intruder away from the nest, than the Common Sandpiper. The 

 sitting bird will start up from its charge and run along the ground as 

 if wounded, or roll over and over as if perfectly helpless ; but if pur- 

 sued it rises with a triumphant weet, after having performed these actions 

 for some distance. When leaving the nest of its own accord, the sitting 

 bird always runs for a few yards ere taking wing ; and the eggs so closely 

 resemble the colour of surrounding objects as almost to defy discovery. 

 When the young are hatched the poor little Sandpipers are even more 

 anxious and allow an intruder to get quite close, without any thought of 

 their own safety. Sometimes the bird will then spread out its tail like a 

 fan, letting the outside feathers scrape the ground, and it will often hiss 

 defiance at the intruder. The young birds, from what my friend Mr. 

 Charles Doncaster has observed, appear to remain in the nest for several 

 hours at least after they are hatched. Mr. Carter informs me that he has 

 heard the Common Sandpiper keep up an incessant squealing note, which 

 he compares to that of a rat in a trap, whilst he was looking at a nest of 

 eggs on which the bird had been sitting some time. 



The Common Sandpiper does not frequent the sea-coast much during 

 its visit to our islands, but in its winter-quarters it is to be observed 

 very often searching the mud-flats for food. It also frequents rocky 

 coasts at this season and during migration, in this respect resembling the 

 Purple Sandpiper. The Common Sandpiper is said both to swim and to 

 dive ; but this is only in exceptional cases, and in times of need, when hard 

 pressed by enemies or when wounded. It rarely, if ever, associates into 

 flocks, and generally not more than two or three are observed in company. 

 The Common Sandpiper varies very little in colour ; the plumage of the 



