GREEN-RUMP TATLER. 295 



which was a male, was filled with the remains of insects (Gyrinus, 

 Hydroporus, Donacia micans, Colymbetes Sturmii, etc). 



There can be no doubt that future observant naturalists will yet 

 find the Wood Sandpiper occurring in limited numbers on our 



shores. 



THE GREEN-RUMP TATLER, OR SOLITARY 

 SANDPIPER. 



TOT AN US CHLOROPYGIUS. (VIEILLOT). 



A SINGLE specimen of this bird having been obtained in Lanark- 

 shire, I have ventured to give the species a place in the present 

 work, believing that as the numbers of ornithological observers 

 increase, it may yet be found to make occasional visits to this 

 country. Though nowhere numerous, it is widely diffused through- 

 out the temperate regions of North America; being the well-known 

 solitary Sandpiper described by Wilson, Audubon, and other 

 authors. The following description of the bird's habits is taken 

 from the third volume of Audubon's ' Ornithological Biography': 

 " The flight of the solitary Sandpiper is swift and protracted. 

 It moves in a zig-zag manner, and at times makes its way through 

 the woods with surprising ease, seldom leaving the starting place 

 without uttering a clear and pleasant tweet. In realign ting, it 

 pitches downwards, like the common snipe. On the ground they 

 are very active, and at times so indifferent to the approach of man, 

 that they will merely fly across, or around a small pond for a 

 considerable time, and if shot at and not touched, they will be 

 sure to be found in the SUme place a few hours after. Its alighting 

 on trees has often appeared to me as singular as that of Bartram's 

 snipe and the semipalmated species. The solitary snipe is, how- 

 ever, the most expert at catching insects on the wing, especially 

 the smaller kinds of dragon flies, which it chases from the sticks 

 on which they alight, and generally seizes before they have flown 

 across the little ponds, which are the favourite place of resort of 

 this species. I have found their stomachs filled with aquatic in- 

 sects, caterpillers of various kinds, and black spiders of considerable 

 size." The same author found a single nest of this bird in the 

 woods near Bayou Sara, by the side of a small pond ; it was care- 

 lessly formed of grass and withered leaves, and contained three eggs. 



