THE BIRDS OF NEW JERSEY. 129 



white ; hind head and neck above, brown, minutely streak- 

 ed with black; back, black, the feathers shghtly skirted 

 with brown; long wing feathers, black, barred with white 

 on the inner webs; rump, deep brown black, slightly bor- 

 dered with white; tail, taperiug, of a pale brown orange, 

 barred with black, the middle feather centered with dusky; 

 legs, yellow, tinged with green, the outer toe joined to 

 the middle one by a membrane; lining of wings, barred 

 with black and white; eye, very large. The male and fe- 

 male are nearly alike. 



The nest is a mere depression in the ground, lined with 

 grass, straw and tendrils. The eggs are generally four in 

 number, of a clay color, spotted all over with brown and 

 purplish gray, and one and three-fourths by one and one- 

 fourth inches in size. 



The birds breed in the United States from Virginia 

 northward and spend t]je winter in South America. They 

 arrive in New Jersey during the latter part of April and 

 remain until the middle of September. 



Their cry is a loud, long, soft whistle, the alarm note, 

 quip-ip-ip-ip, quip-i'p ip-ip, at other times uttering a 

 chr-r-r-r-ee-e-e-e-e-e-oo-oo-o-o-oo. 



Their food consists of insects and they destroy a great 

 many grasshoppers and beetles and occasionally take a 

 few beri-ies. 



Sandpiper^ Lteast^ Peep^ or ,Jn[eatUrw Ox-eye. — 



Length, five and a half to six inches; extent, twelve 

 inches; bill, three-fourths of an inch, black; feathers on 

 the upper surface of the body and head, black centrally, 

 broadly bordered wil.h buff and gray; long wing feathers, 

 dark brown; tail, light grayish brown, central pair dusky; 

 below, breast and neck white, somewhat suffused with 

 gray, and each feather with a central dusky streak; rest 

 of under parts, white; legs and feet, black. In the winter 

 there is less gray and more white in the plumage. 



The nest is a depression in dry moss lined with a little 



