Between the Tracks 107 
in acrobatic style. The four eggs lying on the decayed leaves presented a beautiful 
sight. The light creamy background offset the brick-red blotches, and many 
lavender markings seemed to show through from the inner side of the shell. 
Nests which are exemplifications of art and bird craft, such as the Blue-gray 
Gnatcatcher, are marvels for neatness and construction; but nothing is handsomer 
to me than a beautiful set of eggs lying in a bed of leaves, just as they are de- 
posited by the Woodcock or Whip-poor-will. 
The Woodcock often chooses a locality outside of the dense brush. One of 
my farmer friends, while plowing his corn stubble several years ago, overturned 
a mother Woodcock. In a depression of corn husks she was sitting on four eggs 
May 15, and, had she commenced maternal duties twenty-four hours earlier, 
her offspring would haye undoubtedly escaped the plow. 
SPOTTED SANDPIPER 
Photographed by H. H. Cleaves, Staten Island, N. Y. 
