OP THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 227 



Habits. — It is not known that the habits of the Spotted Sandpiper differ in 

 any important respect from those of its Old World ally. The bird frequents similar 

 haunts, the banks of rivers and the margins of lakes. In autumn it gathers into 

 little parties, probably the broods and their parents, and these appear to migrate 

 in company. Its call-note is very similar, and most persistently uttered as the 

 bird rises alarmed from the ground. It possesses the same habit of beating the 

 tail up and down and nodding the head. It feeds on similar substances, and, like 

 the Common Sandpiper, appears never to be very gregarious and often seen 

 solitary. 



Nidif ication. — In its habits during the breeding season, and in the choice 

 of a locality for its nest, it also resembles the Common Sandpiper. Audubon, 

 however, states that in Labrador it made a somewhat elaborate nest of moss, 

 grasses and feathers, built under the ledges of the rocks ; but, like a good many 

 more of this naturalist's statements, this one is open to the gravest doubt. The eggs 

 of the Spotted Sandpiper are four in number and pale buff in ground-colour, spot- 

 ted, and more rarely blotched with very dark reddish-brown, and with underlying 

 markings of pale grey. They measure on an average 1'3 inch in length by 

 I'O inch in breadth. The eggs are smaller than those of the Common Sandpiper, 

 and the markings are smaller, darker, and more clearly defined. It is not known 

 that more than one brood is reared in the year. 



Diagnostic cliaracters — The same diagnosis as that given for the 

 preceding species, but with all the secondaries uniformly barred. It should be 

 remarked, however, that the adult in summer plumage is spotted with black on 

 the underparts. Length, 7^ to 8 inches. 



