Plate XLV. 



Fig, 7. TRINGOIDES MACULAR I US-Spotted Sandpiper, 



The Spotted Sandpiper arrives about the loth of April. Two weeks later many of them have se- 

 lected sites for their nests, and perhaps with a few exceptions oviposition has commenced. Two broods 

 are frequently, if not usually, reared by each pair during the season. Early in September they depart for 

 their winter home. 



LOCALITY: 



The locality chosen is always near water; either a lake, river, creek, canal, or pond. Often a 

 pair will build their nest in an upland field beside a small artificial pool made for watering stock. It is 

 immaterial what the character of the surrounding country is. As a rule, the nest is placed in a ploughed 

 field, or upon the sand or gravel along a river or creek, unprotected by any vegetation. Sometimes it is 

 among young willows and weeds, or even occasionally in grass. Once I found a nest in a piece of woods, 

 near a little pond only a few yards square. 



POSITION: 



The nest is always upon the ground; either in a natural depression or in a slight concavity scratched 

 for the purpose. Sometimes quite a neat little excavation is made. 



MATERIALS : 



Small sticks, bits of weed-stems, blades of grass, slender strips of corn-husks, and like materials 

 are sometimes used as a lining to the concavity. But frequently no materials are carried by the build- 

 ers, the eggs being deposited upon the bare ground, or upon whatever natural covering there is to the 

 chosen spot. When the selected site is upon a gravel-covered shore, the eggs often rest upon joebbles, 

 and, being surrounded by stones nearly their size, are very difficult to discern. No measurements can be 



given because the outlines are uncertain. 



EGGS: 



Four eggs are nearly always deposited in the first set. They are arranged with their points together, 

 so as to occupy the least possible space. In the second set, sometimes only three are laid. The ground- 

 color is smoky-buff of an indescribable shade. There is but slight variation in color in specimens of dif- 

 ferent sets. The markings consist of blotches, spots, and speckles of brown, varying in different e^-o-s 

 from a light tint of Vandyke-brown to the darkest of sepia. Some eggs are uniformly and thickly spotted 

 and speckled. Some have several large blotches of color with spots and specks between, while others, 

 and this is the commonest pattern, have bold spots and speckles of various shades, increasing in size 

 and number from the point to the base. The deep shell-marks are bluish, and vary greatly in number 



149 



