82 SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 
ing for sevéral feet over them, so that I probably should not have 
observed them, had not the birds flown off as I was passing. These 
nests were made of dry moss, raised to the height of from six to nine 
inches, and well finished within with slender grasses and feathers of 
the Eider Duck. As usual however, the eggs were always four, when 
the bird was sitting. They measure an inch and a quarter in length, 
by an inch at their thickest part, so that they have a shortish and bulky 
appearance, though they run almost to a poimt. They are smooth, and 
handsomely marked with blotches of deep brown and others of a lighter 
tint, on a greyish-yellow ground, the spots being larger and closer to- 
wards the rounded end. Both sexes incubate, and remain with their 
brood until the time of their departure. 
My learned friend Tuomas Nutraut has described the manners of 
this species as observed in the neighbourhood of Boston, with so much 
truth and accuracy, that I cannot do better than present you with his 
account of it, the more especially, that in so doing, I have an oppor- 
tunity of expressing the high opinion I entertain of his talents and va- 
ried accomplishments. ‘‘ The Peet Weet is one of the most familiar and 
common of all the New England marsh birds, arriving along our river 
shores, and low meadows, about the beginning of May, from their mild 
or tropical winter quarters in Mexico. As soon as it arrives on the coast, 
small roving flocks are seen, at various times of the day, coursing rapidly 
along the borders of our tide-water streams, flying swiftly and rather 
low, in circular sweeps along the meanders of the rock or river, and 
occasionally crossing from side to side, in rather a sportive and cheer- 
ful mien, than as the needy foragers they appear at the close of the 
autumn. While flying out in these wide circuits, agitated by superior 
feelings to those of hunger and necessity, we hear the shores re-echo 
the shrill and rapid whistle of ’ weet, ’ weet, ’ weet, ’ weet, and usually 
closing the note with something like a warble, as they approach their 
companions on the strand. The cry then varies to ’peet, weet, *weet, 
> weet, beginning high and gradually declining into a somewhat plain- 
tive tone. As the season advances, our little lively marine wanderers 
often trace the streams some distance into the interior, resting usually 
in fresh meadows among the grass, sometimes even near the house, 
and I have seen their eggs laid in a strawberry bed; and the young and 
old, pleased with their allowed protection, familiarly fed, and probed 
the margin of the adjoining duck-pond, for their usual fare of worms 
oe 
