THE OOLOGTST. 



159 



distance from home is an old deserted 

 brickyard. In this place are two old 

 ponds. One is very small and reedy 

 and the other, quite large with sandy 

 beaches. Early in the spring a pair of 

 Spotted Sandpipers took up their resi- 

 dence here with the Green Herons, Red- 

 winged Blackbirds, King Rails, Song 

 Sparrows, American Goldhnches, 

 Muskrats and other inhabitants of the 

 place. I watched this pair of Sandpi- 

 pers every day until they bad i eared 

 their young.' I used to take my stand 

 on the big bank overlooking the place, 

 with field glass, everj'^ morning and af- 

 ternoon. On the southern shore of the 

 larger pond, at the western end, a long 

 stretch of beach, low, flat and sandy 

 stretches off two or three hundred feet 

 to the southwest. This place was the 

 Sandpipers' delight. On the south 

 west this beach is terminated by a min- 

 ature bluft' which rises abruptly to the 

 height of twenty feet. From here back 

 about one hundred and fifty feet runs a 

 small grassy plateau terminated by a 

 bluff or line of bluffs rather, which 

 range from two to three hundred feet 

 in height, the tops running back in a 

 field for about one thousand feet. The 

 ponds are bordered on the north by an 

 embankment about ten feet high, from 

 which a field runs northward about 

 two or three thousand feet. The eastern 

 and western ends are bounded by high 

 sand banks. After some looking about, 

 the Sandpipers selected a tuft of rank 

 grass on the edge of the little plateau, 

 about two hundred feet from the pond, 

 as a building site. The first operation 

 was to scratch a hollow in the soft, light, 

 sandy clay for the nest. The male and 

 female both worked at this. The male 

 would work away for a few moments, 

 while the female stood off about two 

 feet viewing the work with an approv- 

 ing but critical eye, turning her head 

 from side to side in a true feminine 

 "Well, now, that does pretty well for a 

 man" style. After a few moments the 



two would change places, the male look- 

 ing on with an interested, approving 

 gaze. The birds were about two hours 

 in completing the hollow to their entire 

 satisfaction. The remainder of that day 

 and the next two were occupied in lin- 

 ing the hollow. The male collected all 

 of the materials while the female made 

 the nest. She was very fastidious and 

 compelled him to collect ten times the 

 amount of material that was used. 

 She built and rebuilt, arranged and re- 

 arranged, until at last, at the end of 

 the third day from the commencement 

 of the hollow the whole affair seemed 

 to be entirely satisfactory to her and 

 her mate. For four days after complet- 

 ing the nest the birds spent their time 

 in feeding and acquainting themselves 

 with the surroundings. During this 

 period they were remarkably shy, re- 

 tiring and silent. My observations 

 were mostly made from the sand banks 

 at the west, where, with the aid of my 

 glasses, I could closely watch every 

 movement of the birds without in the 

 least disturbing them. The material 

 used in the lining of the nest was en- 

 tirely dry grass stems. The first work 

 on the hollow of the nest was commenc- 

 ed at nine o'clock in the morning on 

 the 1st day of May. The finishing- 

 touches were made on the lining at fif- 

 teen minutes to four on May 3d. The 

 observations of May 7th, 8th, 9th and 

 10th were so interesting I will give 

 them at length. 



May 7th. The birds appear very 

 much excited. I arrived en the ground! 

 this morning at 8:10 The female 

 spent the entire forenoon alternately 

 sitting or standing over the nest and 

 standing or sitting near it. The male 

 has kept her supplied with food. He is 

 very much excited, flying back and 

 forth between the nest and pond with 

 loud, excited, shrill cries of weet-toeet- 

 ivett-weet-weei. The female laid the first 

 egg this afternoon at three minutes af- 

 ter two. While laying she squcMecl ov- 



