160 



THE OOLOGIST. 



ver the nest, not as one M^ould suppose, 

 sitting upon it. After the operation 

 she appeared to be very much exhaust- 

 ed. The male immediately took her 

 place, standing over the egg. The fe- 

 male appeared to be too much exhaust- 

 ed to take that position for about an 

 hour, but at fifteen minutes past three 

 she relieved him. She kept this station 

 th^ remainder of the day. 



May 8th. When I arrived at twenty 

 minutes past eight this morning, the 

 birds were much less excited and the 

 female was still standing over the nest. 

 I think she must have stood guard all 

 night. The male relieved her from ten 

 minutes to nine to twenty minutes past 

 ten for her to feed. The female laid 

 the second egg this afternoon at ten 

 minutes past two. The male again 

 relieved her during her period of ex- 

 haustion. 



May 9th. The programme today was 

 the same as yesterday, the third egg be- 

 ing laid at five mintes past two. 



May 10th. Today the same pro- 

 gramme was enacted. The female 

 laid the fourth egg at two o'clock. At 

 three o'clock, after her period of ex- 

 haustion, she carefully arranged the 

 eggs and settled down upon them, thus 

 beginning the actual incubation. 



From this time until the 26th of the 

 month the routine of life was very reg- 

 ular and smooth. The birds were 

 silent and retired. The male 

 relieved the female every morn- 

 ing at eleven o'clock, and remain- 

 ed on the nest until she returned from 

 feeding at three. The birds were very 

 punctual about relieving each other. 

 The time did not vary more than ten 

 minutes during the entire period. The 

 female incubated the eggs fi'om three 

 o'clock in the afternoon until eleven 

 o'clock the next morning every day. 

 The male sat upon the eggs to allow 

 the female to rest, exercise and feed 

 from eleven to three o'clock every day. 

 During the period of incubation I made 



myself so familiar with the old birds 

 that they were not in the least afraid of 

 me. I did this so that I might closely 

 watch the young when they were hatch- 

 ed. 



On May 26th the eggs all hatched be- 

 tween one and two o'clock in the af- 

 ternoon. When the young emerged 

 from the shell they were wet and cov- 

 ered with blood. The shells were pick- 

 ed around the greater end, so they 

 came off in two pieces. As soon as a 

 young one hatched the female took the 

 empty shell, flew down to the pond and 

 returned with it ^full of water, which 

 she promptly poured over the young- 

 ster to wash off the blood. Then she 

 flew back to the pond and sank the 

 shell, thus destroying all evidence of 

 the existence of the young. The young 

 as soon as dry were able to trot about. 

 As soon as all the young were dry, the 

 whole brood left the nest, to return no 

 more. 



If you suddenly come upon a brood 

 of young Sandpipers, the mother utters 

 a cry of warning and flutters along the 

 ground as though maimed to draw the 

 intruder away. The young squat down 

 and remain perfectly motionless. In 

 this position they are almost impossible 

 to find, if one is discovered he will 

 "play possum'' and allow you fi'eely to 

 handle him without showing the least 

 sign of life. The Spotted Sandpiper 

 lives almost entirely on insects, slugs, 

 snails, etc., though once in awhile one 

 will eat seeds. Taken all together I 

 think that the Spotted Sandpiper is one 

 of the most eccentric and interesting 

 birds we have. 



I hope that we may hear more about 

 our common birds. Don't neglect them 

 because they ai'e not rai'e. 



R. G. Fitch, 

 Grand Rapids, Mich. 



