THE OOLOGIST. 



notes, it is extremely difficult to accur- 

 ately describe them on paper, and 

 many cannot be described by this 

 means. 



Nest building begins in late April in 

 rare instances, but generally not till 

 after the middle of the following month, 

 and eggs are not often taken before 

 May 20th. Have taken a set of incub- 

 ated eggs May 14th, but still, June 1st. 

 to 15th may be considered the height of 

 breeding season. 



The nest is small, fiat and an exceed- 

 ingly shiftlessly built structure, and so 

 poorly put together that it will nearly 

 always fall apart if removed from its 

 position. It is usually composed of 

 coarse dead grass, and sometimes there 

 are weed stalks and even twigs in its 

 make up. Sometimes nests are exceed- 

 ingly scanty and I am informed that 

 eggs have been found without any 

 nest. 



The complement of eggs is invariably 

 four, I believe, for the first setting, but 

 as three are not rarely found later in 

 the season, it is reasonable to suppose 

 that the birds were disturbed in their 

 first attempt at nesting, and that three 

 eggs is not infrequently the number in 

 second sets. It is fair to consider the 

 Sandpiper as a one brood a season 

 species, as the other members of this 

 family are looked upon; still the find- 

 ing of fresh eggs in July causes observ- 

 ers to wonder if two broods is not a 

 possibility. 



The eggs are pear-shaped and spotted 

 with brown of different shades in var- 

 ious specimens. These spots often 

 black or even reddish are from the size 

 of a pin* point to large blotches, and 

 are mainly at the larger end. The 

 ground color is given as a creamy, buff 

 or clay color by Davie and other wri- 

 ters. This nicely describes the eggs 

 after they have been blown and placed 

 in the cabinet for a month or more. 

 For they loose their original surface 

 color, and the greenish tinge entirely 



disappears; fading out shortly after the 

 contents are removed. 



Unless the bird is flushed, the eggs 

 are very difficult to find, and it takes 

 patience to secure a set on the gravelly 

 shores of a lake. The old bird leaves 

 the nest by sneaking when the eggs are 

 fresh while the collector is at a distance 

 but when the eggs are well incubated 

 she sets closely and barely leaves when 

 pressed, feigning lameness and employ- 

 ing every device to lure the stroller 

 from her treasures. When the eggs 

 are about ready to hatch or there are 

 very small young birds in or near the 

 nest the actions of the old bird are very 

 pathetic and interesting. 



The young are precocious, as in the 

 case with all membeis of the family, 

 and are even specially advanced in 

 leaving tiie nest and running about. 

 These downy fairy bits of bird-life 

 quickly learn the ways of the shore and 

 field, and skip about, and patter in and 

 out among the stones, drift-wood or 

 tussocks oi grass. They run with sur- 

 j)rising swiftness for such little things 

 and soon learn to assist in escape by 

 the use of their developing wings. Not 

 only can they run but they can swim 

 and dive as well, and will quickly es- 

 cape from a pursuer by the water. In 

 fact, I believe all of the smaller waders 

 swim when occasion requires it. Not 

 long ago the question was asked 'Do 

 wading birds swim?' I do not recall 

 the writer nor paper, but if the ques- 

 tioner had been rambling with me one 

 day he would have been fully satisfied 

 on that point. 



Passing near the shores of a small 

 pond I saw a young Spotted Sandpiper, 

 about three-quarters size, and in the 

 spirit of frolic chased the active bird. 

 It ran to the water boldly waded to its 

 length of legs, and then swam away 

 from the shore. Thinking to change 

 its course, a club was thrown beyond 

 it, when, much to my surprise, the Tip- 

 up dove like a fiash and came to the 



