730 REPORT OF STATE GEOLOGIST. 



Nest, a depression in ground lined with grass, leaves and weeds. 

 Eggs, 4; light buff or white, spotted with blackish-brown; 1.34 by .92. 



Common summer resident; a well-known frequenter of the banks of 

 streams, ponds and lakes, and of sandbars everywhere throughout the 

 State. This and the Solitary Sandpiper have the habit of bowing the 

 heads and tilting the rear parts as though they were continually try- 

 ing to balance themselves. They are known under many common 

 names, such as "Sandsnipe," "Tip-up," "Sandpiper/ 7 but the best 

 name I have heard that is applicable to both is an old farmer's appella- 

 tion "Teeter-snipe." 



Head of Spotted Sandpiper. Xatural size. 



This species is much more noisy than the Solitary Sandpiper, and 

 from its note is often called by what it seems to say: "Peet-weet." On 

 the whole these birds are more numerous and more conspicious than 

 the Solitary. They usually arrive about the middle of April. Some 

 years it is, however, reported in March, although I have never found 

 it that early in the Whitewater Valley. 



It has been reported as first seen in the years named as follows: De- 

 kalb County, 1897, March 18 (Feagler); Vigo County, 1897, March 

 20; 1896, March 21 (Kendrick); Decatur, 1896, March 28 (Shannon); 

 Dekalb County, 1895, April 4 (Mrs. Hine). The following dates give 

 the records of its appearance at Brookville, Ind., for a number of 

 years past: April 19, 1881; April 14, 1883; April 21, 1885; April 22, 

 1886; April 15, 1887; April 13, 1888; April 21, 1889; April 25, 1892; 

 April 20, 1893; April 22, 1896; April 22, 1897. 



I have observed them mating as soon as they arrive, some years by 

 April 15. Have found them building their nests April 27, and the 

 complement of eggs May 12. I also have found young, but recently, 

 out of the nest as late as July 8. The nests are usually made 

 away from the water, on high ground and among the grass. A rail- 

 road or other embankment is a favorite place. The eggs, like those 

 of all the waders, lie with their pointed ends together. 



They generally leave the first half of September, occasionally re~- 

 main into October, the last reported: Warren County, September 



