BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



91 



Roddy, of Millersville, Pa., writing- (letter) of this species in Perry 

 county, says: "In the latter part of June, 1884, I shot an adult male 

 Solitary Sandpiper. There were a pair of them in a swamp, and from 

 their actions they were nesting. I devoted a good bit of 'time in search- 

 ing- for their nest but could not find it. I have no doubt, however, as to 

 their breeding-." Dr. Treichler, of Lancaster county, mentions it as an 

 irregular breeder ; he has found young- about half grown in the Cone- 

 wago meadows early in July. Dr. Walter Van Fleet, of Renovo, states 

 that the Solitary Sandpiper breeds in Clinton, Union and Northumber- 

 land counties. Prof. A. Kock, of Williamsport, tells me that he is quite 

 positive that this bird sometimes breeds in the mountainous regions of 

 Lycoming county. Although the bird is common, very little is known 

 concerning its nest or eggs. Prof. Robert Ridgway * says, " Egg (iden- 

 tification doubtful, but probably correct) 1.32 by .90, dull light-buffy, 

 thickly spotted and clouded with rich madder-brown and purplish-gray." 

 Mr. Oliver Davie (Nests and Eggs of N. A. Birds, third edition), says : 

 " In the last edition of this work I mentioned an egg supposed to belong 

 to this species, which I took in an open field bordering the Scioto river, 

 near Columbus, Ohio, in the latter part of May, 1887. * * * * The 

 egg was of a pointed oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as are the 

 eggs of most of this family, size 1.25 by .88, smaller than the eggs of the 

 Spotted Sandpiper. The ground was clay-color with a reddish tinge, 

 thickly marked with reddish and blackish-brown. The nest was on the 

 ground in as exposed a locality as is ever frequented by this bird. It 

 contained two eggs, both far advanced in incubation, only one of which 

 was preserved." 



According to Audubon, the Solitary Sandpiper is expert in catching 

 insects on. the wing, " especially the smaller kinds of dragon-flies, which 

 it chases from the sticks on which they alight, and generally seize before 

 they have flown across the little ponds which are the favorite places of 

 resort of this species. I have found their stomachs filled with aquatic 

 insects, caterpillars of various kinds, and black spiders of considerable 

 size." 



The food materials of eleven birds examined by the writer are given 

 below : 



Manual of North American Birds, pajre 10(5. 



