166 



PR.ECOCIAL GKAI-LATurcliS — L1.MIC( )I,vK. 





I 





inj; Wivves down, and Hcunyin},' liark as tln-y conif loUiiifi; in af,'ain. On tlit- Ttli of 

 .Inly he found two broods of youii},'. wliicli liail Itdt tlic nests Imt a fcsv limns In-foro. 

 They were olothed in down, and wen- yt't ho wt-ak as scarcidy to l)e al)l(' to stand. 

 8ubst'(jm'ntly he noticed (juiti- a nuinlH-r of nests eontaining ej,'j,'s. Tlie spot selected 

 for a breedinjf-ground was a strip of bare white sand, a hundred yards from tlio 

 oeean. In every instance but one the eg^I'^ were deposited in a siij^ht holh)W seratclied 

 in the sand, without lining,' of any sort. In tlie exceptional case the owners had 

 selected from ahm^' the shore little liits of pearly nacre, reiunants of iiroken sea- 

 shells, and upon a smooth liniii},' of this material had jilaceil their treasures. The 

 effect of the richly colored egj^s as they lay on their cushion of shining mother-of- 

 pearl is said to have In-en very j)leasing. .Mr. Ilenshiiw adds, that so slight was the 

 contrast Im^wccu the eggs and the drifted sand about them, that they woul.. be diffi- 

 cult enough to hnd. were it not for the tracks about the nests. .\s the birds came to 

 relieve their mates in sitting or to bring them food, they alighted near the nest, and 

 thus for a little distance around each one was a series of tracks converging to a com- 

 mon centre, which Ix'trayed their secret. (Ireat was the alariu of the colony as soon 

 as his presence was known. They gathered into little knots, following hitn at a dis- 

 tance with low sorrowfid cries. When her nest was seen to be really discovered, 

 the female would Hy close by him and m;>ke use of all the arts which birds of this 

 kind know so well how to employ on like occasions. With wings drooping aiul trail- 

 ing on the saiul, she wotdd juove in fiont till his attention was secured, and would 

 then fall helplessly down, and, Iturying her breast in the sand, jireseut the very pic- 

 ture of despair and woe. while the nude bird and the otlier ])airs expresvsed their .sym- 

 pathy by Ituul cries. The full nest coiujilement is saiil to have iH'en three eggs; 

 and in no instance were more fouml. He ilescribes tliem as of a light clay color, 

 marked with mnncrous bhitclies and scratchy splashes of l)laik. in size and appear- 

 ance approaching most closely to those of .K. nn Imlo. but easily to be distinguished 

 by the different style of the spotting. He gives their greatest length as l.JW; their 

 least, I.!'!' ; and their diameter as varying from .S".» to .'.(.'». 



Dr. Cooper speaks of these birds as In-ing ipiitc common along the sandy Ijeaches 

 of the sotithern part of California, but becoming rather rare near San Francisco, 

 although found north as far as Cape .Mendocino. They did not seem to migrate at 

 any pa'ticular .sea.son, but were found at all tinu-.s. in small }iarties, running over the 

 drifted sand or along the edge of the water, catching insects and cruslacea. In the 

 spring they are less ^^egarious, and the females retire to lay their eggs, which arc 

 lound just alM)ve the edge of the highest water-marks, deposited in slight depressions 

 in the sand, sometinu's lined with i'ragnu-nts of shells. Tlu; eggs are laid from A})ril 

 loth to July .'Wth, the latter iM-ing ju-obably a second brood. They are large for the 

 size of the bird, measuring 1.1*1* inches by .*.(!*. and have a brownish-white ground, 

 thickly blotched ami speckh'd with blackish-brown marks rc.sendding Turkish let- 

 ters. In one instance, after an extremely high tide at night, Dr. Cooper found in 

 the early morning four eggs partly hatched in a (h'jiression just made in the wet 

 sand, at the very top of the wave-How. They must have bi'cn moved theie by the 

 old birds from another nest that morning. Their dara]>iiess could hardly have lK>en 

 favorable for their liatching, though soon to Im* dried by ti.-e sun, the heat of which 

 saves these birds much of the trouble of sitting. Dr. Coojjer has never heard this 

 bird utter any sound. 



Mr. Ridgway characterizes this species as a graceful little I'lover, and states that 

 though previously known only froi:t the Pacific Region, he found if very jd)uiulant 

 in the neighborhood of the southeastern shore of (Jreat Salt Lake. On the bare 



