ISSUED IN BEHALF OF THE SCIENCE WHICH IT ADVOCATES. 



Volume II, NOVEMBER and DECEMBER, 1876. Numbers 9, 10. 



Nesting of the Solitary or Wood 

 Tatler. 



( Totaniis solitarhis. ) 



ADOLPHE B. COVERT. 



^^HE 19th day of May, 1870, was one 

 of the warmest and most uncomfort- 

 able of the season. I had been out 

 all day, collecting along the banks of the 

 Huron river, which runs through the city 

 of Ann Ai'bor. As the day was fast draw- 

 ing to a close, I had left the river and passed 

 through a deep woods, on my way home. 

 As I reached the border, a fine view of the 

 city lay before me ; being somewhat tired, 

 I sat down to enjoy it. The mosquitoes 

 were very troublesome, and seemed deter- 

 mined to devour me alive, so I lighted a 

 cigarette. As I sat quietly smoking, not 

 a sound broke upon the air but the contin- 

 uous hum of the insects, and the sweet bell 

 like notes of the Wood Thrush. While med- 

 itating the success and mishaps of the day, 

 my attention was attracted by a pair of 

 Sandpipers, nimbly sporting on the edge of 

 a small pond, a few rods from n^e. After 

 wading about for a short time, one of them 

 commenced to walk leisurely up the hill to- 

 ward me ; my dog had observed them, and 

 was becoming uneasy ;- 1 placed my hand 

 upon him to keep him quiet. The bird 



came quietly on, now and then stopping to 

 search among the fallen leaves. When di- 

 rectly in front of me, she stopped, stared 

 intently a few seconds, and seeming satis- 

 fied that all was right, passed on a few feet, 

 scratched away the fallen leaves and nestled 

 down. My dog gave an anxious whine, 

 when, hastily rising, she scratched the leavea 

 together and flew back to her mate with a 

 short, sharp whistle. Bidding my dog to 

 chai'ge, I arose and removed the leaves ; 

 four beautiful eggs lay beneath my eyes. 

 The nest was nothing but a few forest leaves, 

 which seemed fastened together with a sa- 

 liva of the birds. 1'he eggs measured 1.25 

 inches by 1 inch, were abruptly pyriform, 

 of a bluish clay-color, with heavy blotches 

 of blackish-brown on the larger half, and 

 smaller spots toward the small end. I re- 

 moved the nest and eggs to my collecting 

 box, called my dog to heel, and walked with- 

 in shooting distance of the birds, which 

 were now huddled together on the bank of 

 the pond, bemoaning the loss of their treas- 

 ures. It seemed almost wicked to kill them, 

 buf science demanded it ; I pulled the trig- 

 ger and both fell. I hastened forward, 

 picked them up, and they proved to be To- 

 tanus solitarius. It Avas the only nest of 

 this bird that I ever found, although a pair 

 of them used to play on the beach in front 

 of my tent on Portage Lake, in the spring 

 of 1875. I watched them intently, but fail- 



