SPOTTED SANDPIPER, TIP-UP, OR 

 TEETER-TAIL 



Upper parts brownish-gray crossed with wavy bars of 

 Mack; head and neck slender; bill one inch long; under parts 

 white and well covered with black spots. Length, seven inches. 



Nest, in a slight depression on the ground, scantily lined 

 with dry grass. Eggs, four, white or pjle buff, specked with 

 brown and lilac, 1.25 x .90 inches. 



Few shore birds are so common as the Spotted Sandpiper. 

 Spending the winter in the more Southern States and south- 

 ward through Central America, it comes into the North in 

 April and spreads far and wide, journeying even to Hudson 

 Bay. In October, old and young return in families to the 

 southland. It is a true wader, being always found along the 

 seacoast and the shores of creeks, rivers and lakes. 



When on the ground, it has a peculiar motion of the tail 

 and body much like teetering. It seems tg be constantly losing 

 its balance and as constantly recovering it again. The motion, 

 though odd, is graceful and adds to the bird's attractiveness 

 as it runs along the shore. Tip-Up and Teeter-Tail seem 

 appropriate names for it. 



Upon being flushed, it rises with a few quick strokes of 

 its long pointed wings and sails several rods along the beach. 

 If followed, it repeats its short flight several times, and then 

 sweeping a broad curve over the water, it returns to the place 

 of starting. Every time it rises, it utters a shrill, rapid cry of 

 peet, weet, weet, weet. This is its nearest approach to a song. 



The nest made on the ground in a pasture or a grain field 



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