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than Wilcox had been, I saw on a dead spruce stump a telltale 

 piece of white down. On looking around the stump, I found 

 the nest, which contained nine fresh eggs. 



We decided to spend the following day close to headquarters 

 so that we should be sure to catch the steamer, which was due 

 on that day or the next, and would not call again for a week. 

 So Wilcox and I, aided by Charlie, Prest's brother, and his two 

 fine hounds, spent the day hunting over the large marsh close 

 by Grosse Isle, and we were rewarded by finding no less than 

 seven nests of the Least Sandpiper, all containing eggs in various 

 stages of incubation. This exceptional number of nesting 

 Least Sandpipers was perhaps due to the extreme cold weather, 

 which caused many of the birds to stop south of their regular 

 breeding grounds. 



We were advised by cable that the steamer would not arrive 

 at the islands for two more days. We therefore decided to put 

 in our last day on Grand L'Etang Beach, as we had heard 

 rumors that a number of Snowy Owls had been seen there. 

 Although we did not find the Snowy Owls, we made what was 

 to us a much rarer discovery. While walking along the shore 

 of a small pond, Prest flushed a Sandpiper, which flew a short 

 distance to the edge of the pond and sat quite still. Approach- 

 ing carefully, we turned the glasses on the bird, which appeared 

 to be very similar to the Least Sandpiper, but slightly larger. 

 Prest found the nest in a high part of one of the nubbles; it 

 contained four very dark eggs, which were somewhat similar 

 to those of the Least Sandpiper. Carefully watching our 

 chance, we secured the bird, which proved, to our great surprise 

 and delight, a Semipalmated Sandpiper. This species, as far 

 as we had been able to learn, had never been taken breeding 

 south of northern Labrador. The identification is certain, as 

 the bird in the hand cannot be mistaken for any of the other 

 small Sandpipers. 



That evening we were advised by cable that the good ship 

 ''Amelia" had arrived at Amherst, and was due at Grand Entry 

 the following morning. We therefore spent most of the night 

 in packing up, and at 4 o'clock embarked in Prest's little 

 lobster-boat. At 9 o'clock we met the steamer, and bade 



