SPOTTED SANDPIPER. 83 
and insects. They have the very frequent habit of balancing or 
wagging the tail, in which even the young join as soon as they are 
fledged. From the middle to the close of May, the pairs, seceding 
from their companions, seek out a place for their nest, which is 
always in a dry open field of grass or grain, sometimes in the seclu- 
sion and shade of a field of maize, but most commonly in a dry pas- 
ture, contiguous to the sea shore; and. in some of the solitary and small 
sea islands, several pairs sometimes nestle near to each other, in the 
immediate vicinity of the noisy nurseries of the quailing Terns. On 
being flushed from her eggs, the female goes off without uttering 
any complaint ; but when surprised with her young, she practises all 
the arts of dissimulation common to many other birds, fluttering in the 
path, as if badly wounded, and generally proceeds in this way so far 
as to deceive a dog, and cause it to overlook the brood, for whose pro- 
tection these instinctive arts are practised; nor are the young without 
their artful instinct, for on hearing the reiterated cries of their parents, 
they scatter about, and squatting still in the withered grass, almost 
exactly their colour, it is with careful search very difficult to discover 
them, so that in nine times out of ten, they would be overlooked, and only 
be endangered by the tread, which they would endure sooner than be- 
tray their cautious retreat. 
“ At a later period the shores and marshes resound with the quick, 
clear, and oft-repeated note of peet weet, peet weet, followed up by a 
plaintive call on the young, of peet, peet, peet? peet? If this is not 
answered by the scattered brood, a reiterated weet, "weet, ’weet, ‘wait, 
*wait, is heard, the voice dropping on the final syllables. The whole 
marsh and the shores at times echo to this loud, lively, and solicitous 
call of the affectionate parents for their brood. The cry, of course, is 
most frequent toward evening, when the little family, separated by the 
necessity of scattering themselves over the ground in quest of food, 
are again desirous of reassembling to roost. The young, as soon as 
hatched, run about the grass, and utter from the first a weak plaintive 
peep, at length more frequent and audible; and an imitation of the 
whistle of peet weet, is almost sure to meet with an answer from the 
sympathizing broods, which now throng our marshes. When the note 
appears to be answered, the parents hurry, and repeat their call with 
great quickness. Young and old, previous to their departure, fre- 
quent the sea shores, like most of the species, but never associate with 
F2 
