154 THE SANDPIPER. 



on the ground among long grass and heather; 

 exposed as the eggs then are, both to weather 

 and observation, the bird contrives to place them 

 so as to take up the smallest possible space; and 

 this she effects by making them all meet at their 

 smaller ends, which also taper more than most other 

 eggs. 



The four little eggs, for they are much smaller 

 than a Snipe's, huddled in so narrow a compass, 

 require a keen and accustomed eye to see them, and, 

 at the same time, are easily covered by the parent- 

 bird. Her affection for her young is not confined to 

 them when unable to take care of themselves after 

 hatching, but is manifested when they are still in 

 the egg; for should a stranger disturb her, she will, 

 instead of running or flying away in her usual man- 

 ner, immediately affect lameness, or decoy him away 

 from the nest by tumbling over and over, as if in 

 the last stage of weakness or decripitude. Or, if 

 actually found upon her nest, she will sometimes 

 nobly persevere in sacrificing herself, rather than 

 desert it. In two instances, amongst many, they 

 were found to sit so close, that they allowed them- 

 selves to be lifted off' their nests rather than fly 

 away. It is remarkable how much the same in- 

 stinctive habits prevail in similar families of birds. 

 Those who may not have had opportunities of wit- 

 nessing these manoeuvres by the Sandpipers, have 

 probably often watched the similar proceedings of 

 our common Lapwing, or Pewit, which decoys a dog 

 or a stranger away, either by screaming close to his 

 ear, as she flits by in a sort of tumbling flight, or 

 by scrambling along the ground as if wounded, when 



