The Oologist. 



Vol. XXVI. No. 10. Albion, N. Y. October 15, 1909. Whole No. 267 

 Published Monthly, by R. M. BARNES, Lacon, Illinois. 



The Solitary Sandpiper. 



(Nelodromas solitarius.) 



This bird, A. O. U. No. 256, is noted 

 among ornithologists for the long per- 

 iod of time during which it succeeded 

 in keeping its secrets of identification 

 hidden from the prying eyes of natur- 

 al history students. 



It was not until the Spring of 1903 

 in Northern Alberta, Canada, that 

 Evan Thompson discovered this spe- 

 cies breeding by finding it nesting in 

 an old abandoned Robin's nest — cer- 

 tainly a very peculiar place for Sand- 

 pipers to be laying eggs — that its nest- 

 ing place and habits became known. 

 Since that time numerous sets of eggs 

 accompanied by the nests have found 

 their way from this self same terri- 

 tory into private collections through- 

 out the United States and Europe. A 

 complete description of the first nests 

 of this species and the contents there- 

 of, together with a plate showing two 

 nests and two sets of eggs and the 

 skin of one parent appeared in THE 

 OOLOGIST for October, 1904. Sub- 

 stantially all the known nests and 

 eggs of this species have come from 

 Northwest Canada. 



In years by, the writer well recol- 

 lects that for several seasons a pair of 

 these birds nested near the mouth of 

 a small, very crooked, deep, sluggish 

 creek emptying into the Illinois river 

 some three miles below Lacon, in the 

 midst of exceedingly heavy timber: 

 the creek near its mouth being sur- 

 rounded for some distance with very 

 thick brush and growth of small trees. 



Knowing at that time that the eggs 

 of this species were unknown and de- 

 sirous of being the discoverer thereof 

 if possible, hours upon hours in dif- 

 ferent seasons were spent in this mias- 

 matic swamp by the writer in a fruit- 

 less endeavor to track the birds to 

 their nest. Almost every inch of 

 ground was gone over and over, but 

 all to no result. Upon reading the 

 description of the nesting of this spe- 

 cies in October, 1904, my mind bark- 

 ened back to the days in the '90's that 

 I spent near the mouth of Woodyard 

 Creek trying to fathom the mystery 

 of this mysterious bird. And least 

 important at the time I was there, yet 

 most important at the time I was read- 

 ing the first published description of 

 the finding of this species' nest, I 

 well remember several abandoned 

 nests, probably Wood Thrush's nests, 

 possibly some of them Robin's nests, 

 sticking in the trees and in the small 

 brush-like growth ranging from six 

 feet to twenty feet above the ground, 

 which I saw at the times I was there. 

 I paid absolutely no attention to them 

 whatever, all the while carefully 

 searching the ground beneath these 

 old nests for the home of the Solitary 

 Sandpiper. Had I been in possesion of 

 the information contained in the Oc- 

 tober number, 1904 of THE OOLO- 

 GIST at these times, I have no doubt 

 in my own mind now but that the nest- 

 ing of the Solitary Sandpiper would 

 have been reported from Marshall 

 County, Illinois, instead of from North- 

 west Canada. 



This pair of birds nested in this vi- 



