304 PR.ECOCIAL GRALLATOEES — LIMICOL^. 



The nests of tliis bird vary in their position and construction. So far as I have 

 noted them, tliey have been in some small de^jression in the ground, often sheltered 

 by being placed near a small bush or in a tuft of grass. They are, for the most part, 

 built in the dry open field, never very far from water. Usually they are of very sinqjle 

 structure, being made of dry bent, and answering the purpose of protecting tlie eggs 

 from the damp ground, but rarelj' so well interwoven as to bear removal. Mr. Audu- 

 bon states that the nests of this binl found liy him on an island in the Gulf of St. 

 Lawrence were much more bulky, ami more neatly constructed, than any seen by him 

 farther south, yet not to lie compared witli those he had seen in Laljrador, where they 

 ■were concealed under ledges of rocks, and were made of dry moss, raised to the 

 height of several inches, and well finished within with slender grasses and feathers 

 of the Eider Duck. The time of nesting varies three months from Texas to Labra- 

 dor. On Buffalo Bayou in Texas Audubon found full-grown broods on the 5th of 

 May. In jSTewfoundland they were only just fledged on the 11th of August. 



The young run about with remarkable ease aud swiftness almost as soon as they 

 are out of their shell. When danger approaches they immediately, upon an alarm- 

 signal from their parents, run and hide themselves, squatting close to the ground, and 

 there remaining perfectly immovable, resembling a small drab-colored stone with a 

 single streak of black down the middle. If the young bird finds itself discovered, 

 and an attempt is made to take it, it runs with great celerity, uttering the most 

 plaintive cries, and at the same time the parents exhibit symptoms of distress and 

 counterfeit lameness with great skill. 



Mr. Bartram informed Wilson that he saw one of these birds defend her young for 

 a considerable time from the attacks of a ground-squirrel. The mother threw her- 

 self, with her two young behind her, between them aud the land, and at every attempt 

 of the squirrel to seize them raised both her wings in an almost perpendicular posi- 

 tion, assuming the most formidalile appearance she could, and rushing forward on the 

 squirrel endeavored to drive it back. The young crowded together close behind her, 

 sensible of their perilous situation, moving ba.ckward or forward as she advanced or 

 retreated. This lasted some ten minutes, and would have terminated disastrously 

 for the young birds, had not Mr. Bartram interposed for their rescue. 



Mr. MacCullock, of Pictou, informed Audubon that having once found the nest of 

 this Sandpiper, and proposing to take it on his return, he marked the place by putting 

 a number of stones in a slanting position over the nest, and so close that it was im- 

 possible for the bird to get into it. On his return in the evening, he observed the 

 bird rise from beside the stones in great trepidation, and more than ever anxious to 

 draw him away. On examining the spot, he ascertained tliat the bird had not only 

 hollowed out a new nest, but had succeeded in abstracting two eggs from the otlier 

 nest. How she had contrived to remove the eggs he could not conceive, as the stones 

 remained undisturbed. 



Audubon states that he has ol)served this species alight on the branches of trees 

 hanging over watercourses, walking on them deliberately, with their usual elegance 

 of gait and balancing of body and tail. They are also wont to alight on the rails and 

 stakes of fences or walls, and on the tops of haystacks. 



The eggs are always four in number, and are of a rounded pyriform shape, varying 

 in length from 1.21 inches to 1.35, and in breadth from .95 to 1.00 inch. Their 

 ground-color varies from a light drab to a dark cream, sometimes tinged with rufous, 

 and occasionally with a muddy clay-color. The markings in some are fine dottings, 

 and in others large and confluent blotches about the larger end. The color of the 

 markings is a rich sepia-brown, with a slight purplish tinge. 



