224 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



fond of frequenting patches of seaweed as soon as the tide has ebbed. It is said 

 that the Common Sandpiper swims well, but I am of opinion that it only does so 

 when wounded. I have known a bird of this species when winged take to the 

 sea, and dive with remarkable skill, flying under water and remaining below the 

 surface for more than a minute at a time. 



Nidification.— In our Islands the breeding season of the Common Sand- 

 piper begins in the middle of May, and fresh eggs may be obtained from that date 

 in southern localities to the middle of June in the more northerly ones. I am of 

 opinion this bird pairs for life. It arrives in pairs in spring, and may be seen in 

 pairs with the brood on the sea-coast in autumn just previous to its departure for 

 the south. For many years in succession I have also taken its eggs from one or 

 two strips of ground which were used alternately. The nest is generally not far 

 from the water-side, on a strip of scrubby ground where tufts of wiry grass and 

 little heather bushes occur ; but sometimes it is on the banks of one of the 

 streams which fall into the lake ; whilst more rarely it is some considerable 

 distance from any water at all. The nest is merely a little hollow, usually under 

 the shelter of a bush or tuft of grass, lined with scraps of dead heath, vidthered 

 bents, leaves, and sometimes pine needles. The eggs are always four in number, 

 laid with their pointed ends together, and very pyriform in shape. They are pale 

 creamy-buff or yellowish-white in ground-colour, richly blotched and spotted 

 with pale and dark reddish-brown and with underlying markings of violet-grey. 

 They measure on an average 1"5 inch in length by 1"1 inch in breadth. Both 

 parents assist in the task of incubation, but the female sits most frequently. 

 The period of incubation is about three weeks. The parent bird is a rather close 

 sitter, and often remains brooding on the nest until almost trodden upon. It 

 then rises in a hurried manner and commences to reel and tumble along the 

 ground as if wounded, seeking to decoy the intruder from its home. The eggs are 

 very difficult to see, being coloured so much like surrounding objects. Very often 

 I have noticed the sitting bird run for several yards after leaving the nest and 

 then commence its antics. The young are said to remain in the nest for several 

 hours after they are hatched. One brood only is reared in the year. 



Diagnostic characters — Totanus, with the axillaries white, patches 

 of white on most of the primaries and on all of the secondaries, but with no white 

 on the rump or upper tail coverts. Eighth and ninth secondaries mottled with 

 brown, not barred; lower throat and upper breast streaked. Length, 7J to 

 8 inches. 



