SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 159 



was accompanied by a mate) was seen day after day collect- 

 ing insects, and contentedly resting in the interval on the 

 border of the pond. The water having been recently let off, 

 the lily leaves and insects were covered with mud ; as soon 

 then as our little familiar and cleanly visitor had swallowed a 

 few of these insects, he washed them down with a drink of the 

 water, and at the same time took the precaution to cleanse his 

 bill and throat. Indeed, it is remarkable that however dirty 

 the employment of these shore-birds may be, so neat are they 

 in all their habits that not a stain or a soil is allowed for a 

 moment to remain upon their limbs or plumage. This species 

 is usually silent except when suddenly flushed, at which times 

 it utters a sharp whistle like most of the other kinds to which 

 it is related. 



This bird is said to swim and dive with great facifity when 

 disabled from flying, and proceed under water like the Divers. 



The Solitary Sandpiper is a rather common bird, breeding from 

 about latitude 45° to the lower fur countries. A few pairs remain 

 in New England during the summer months. 



Until quite recently the nest and eggs of this bird were unknown, 

 and even now so few have been discovered, and these few so 

 imperfectly identified, that fresh discoveries will be welcomed. 



My friend Banks thinks he found an egg on the shore of Lily 

 Lake, near St. John, in 1880, and very probably he is correct; 

 but he could not prove it absolutely, for he could not get sight of 

 the parent on the nest or moving away from it. The nest was 

 in an open meadow, and within sight for a considerable distance; 

 but though the egg was always warm when visited, the parent man- 

 aged to elude discovery. The only bird of the family seen in that 

 vicinity during the time the nest was under observation being of 

 the present species, and the nest and egg being somewhat different 

 from those other shore-birds known to breed there, led Banks to 

 suppose that the Solitary must be the parent. The egg found by 

 Banks was pale buff marked with brown, but a set of eggs taken 

 in Vermont by Mr. Richardson, the only authentic set recorded, 

 were described by Dr. Brewer as "light drab." 



Note. — One example each of the Green Shank {Totanus 

 nebularius) and the Green Sandpiper {T. ochropus), both birds 

 of the Old World, have been taken on the Atlantic coast, the first 

 named in Florida, the other in Nova Scotia, 



