SCOLOPACID^E. 185 



berries. Nests were found in hollows scooped out in the 

 earth, sometimes lined with loosely-arranged grasses, and 

 the eggs are described as measuring one inch and six-eighths 

 in length, by one inch and a quarter in breadth, of a dull 

 greyish-yellow ground-colour, with numerous spots of light- 

 purple and reddish-brown/" 



THE YELLOW-SHANKED SANDPIPER. Totanus flavipes. 

 This is another American species, of which Mr. Yarrell re- 

 cords the capture of a single specimen in this country. It 

 is a well-known bird in America, and is mentioned by Wil- 

 son, Audubon, Sir John Eichardson, and Pennant. Of its 

 breeding habits we can give no description beyond the sin- 

 gle observation which we find in Mr. YarrelFs Supplement, 

 that "the nests are described as placed among the grass on 

 the edges of the rivers and large ponds of the interior." 



THE EUFP. Machetes pugna. The female of this spe- 

 cies is called the Eeeve. In summer these birds resort to 

 the fenny districts of England, chiefly to those of Cambridge- 

 shire and Lincolnshire, to breed, and in other parts of our 

 island are more frequently to be met with in spring and 

 autumn, an occasional straggler remaining with us through 

 the winter. As a species, it is generally distributed over 

 Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia. The male bird, in 



