THE OOMMON SAND-PIPER. 187 



when necessary it can swim a little, its feathers being, to 

 a certain extent, waterproof; it can also dive upon emer- 

 gency, though neither swimming nor diving is a common 

 habit with it. 



Its wings are also powerful, being double the length of 

 the body, measuring them from tip to tip, which is longer 

 in proportion than the wings of any other of the genus ; 

 the tail, too, is fan- shaped. As the bird runs about, it is 

 continually flirting and jerking the tail, as a counterpoise 

 to its motions, as it picks up its food ; and when it is on 

 the wing, similar motions of the tail assist it in its ascents 

 and descents. 



These birds are regular migrants, and resort, during the 

 summer, in great numbers, to the banks of rivers and the 

 borders of lakes, in all places of the mainland of Britain, and 

 to several of the Hebrides ; but they are not found in the 

 most northerly islands. They enliven the wilds with their 

 shrill and plaintive voices, and are birds of no small bustle 

 and activity, always apparently in a hurry, whether on foot 

 or on the wing. The nest is usually formed under a dry 

 bank, of a little moss and some dry leaver and fibres not a 

 very elegant or elaborate structure, but still more carefully 

 constructed than that of most birds of the same or of the 

 analogous genera. This is not, however, always the case, 

 for the eggs are sometimes deposited in a slightly scratched 

 cavity among the sand or pebbles, which they so much re- 

 semble in colour that they are not easily discovered. 



The eggs are four, of a flesh-coloured white, mottled with 

 dark-red brown, especially at the thick ends. The young 

 are some time before they can fly, but they can run almost 

 as soon as they come out of the shell, though the habit is to 

 squat and skulk about among the sand and stones till they are 

 able to use their wings. The young, in their first plumage, 

 have reddish margins to the feathers on the upper part. 



