BIRDS OF INDIANA. 723 



by some creek or ditch or secluded river bar, or on the edge of a 

 pond, or woodland pool. At times they, also, are. found in small flocks. 



This is one of the most unsatisfactory birds upon which to work. 

 Both as regards its migrations and its breeding, much information is 

 desired. At Brookville I have never found it earlier than April 21, yet 

 I have reports of its occurrence as early as March 17 and of its being 

 common by March 30. Probably these are incorrect identifications. 



In the vicinity of Lake Michigan they have been first noted April 

 2-2 (1896) to May 10 (1894). They pass northward through May. 

 Last seen: At Brookville, 1890, May 17; 1889, May 8; 1886, May 6; 

 English Lake, 1890, May 11; 1891, May 10; very abundant every- 

 where, mostly in pairs (Deane). 



Throughout the northern part of the State some are summer resi- 

 dents, and breed. Possibly a few do southward, also. Information 

 regarding the breeding of this bird is greatly desired, and among the 

 special desiderata are its eggs. Many times eggs purporting to belong 

 to this species have been found, but satisfactory evidence of their 

 identity has been lacking. 



The late Dr. J. M. Wheaton describes an egg taken by Mr. Oliver 

 Davie in an open field bordering the Scioto Eiver near Columbus, 0. 

 The nest was on the ground in an exposed locality, and contained 

 two eggs well advanced in incubation, only one of which was pre- 

 served, and it was deposited with the Smithsonian Institution. He 

 says that this egg, "though without any positive claims, possesses 

 characters which entitle it to consideration as possibly that of this 

 species. It is of a pointed, oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as 

 are the eggs of most of this family, and measures 1.25 by .88, so that 

 it is smaller than the eggs of the Spotted Sandpiper. The ground 

 color is clay-color with a reddish tinge, thickly marked with reddish 

 and blackish brown" (Birds of Ohio, p. 486). Dr. Brewer (in Bull. 

 Nutta.ll Orn. Club, Vol III, 1878, p. 197) gave an account of an egg 

 taken by Mr. Jenness Kichardson at Lake Bomaseen, Vt., May 28, 

 1878, which was taken with the bird, which was on her nest, a small 

 depression in the ground, when found. This egg was a light drab, 

 with rounded, brown markings, some quite small and dark, nowhere 

 confluent; at larger end a few faint purplish shell marks; 1.37 by .95. 



Mr. Ridgway, in Birds of Illinois, II, p. 63, says "its eggs have never 

 yet, so far as is known to the writer, "been taken." It is not improb- 

 able that this species, like its European relative, the Green Sandpiper 

 (T. ochropus), deposits its eggs in deserted nests of other birds, such 

 as the Wood Thrush and other species which nest in moist wood- 



