—32- 



burnt umber, chestnut, lavendar-gray, chocolate, russet-brown 

 and cinnamon, exhibiting an endless variety of bold and indis- 

 tinct patterns of coloration and design." 



SPOTTED SANDPIPEE, Actitis macularia (Linn.) 



The spotted sandpiper was found breeding in abundance along 

 the lakeshore. Wherever there was sandy beach or gravelly 

 shore to any extent, there the spotted sandpiper could be heard 

 uttering its "peet weet", and could be seen "teetering" in its 

 characteristic manner as it gleaned along the margin of the 

 water. The long sandy stretches between the mouth of Swan 

 River and of Flathead Eiver were favorite resorts of the sand- 

 pipers, and there they could be heard calling at all hours of 

 the day, and late into the evening. This shore was being 

 gradually exposed by the falling water of the lake, and the 

 great sandy flats were exactly suited to the tastes of the little 

 "teeter-up". 



The first nest of the spotted sandpiper was found on June 

 18, on the sandy point at the right of the mouth of Swan 

 River. The female was flushed from the nest about dusk. The 

 site was under a bare drift log, and was made in a depression 

 three inches in diameter and one inch deep. It was made of 

 coarse weed-stems, bits of bark and rubbish. The complement 

 was three eggs, two placed small ends together, the third 

 placed along the small ends of the other two. Incubation was 

 quite advanced in these eggs. Their ground color is a polished 

 clay, upon which are spots and blotches of dark reddish brown 

 and blackish-brown. 



My notes for June 20 record a nest of this species found on 

 the wooded island below the Station, in Swan River, the island 

 afterward becoming part of the mainland as the water of the 

 river receded into its naiTow channel. The nest was made 

 in the open sand, though under trees, about ten feet from 

 the water. It was three inches in diameter, and one and one- 

 half inches deep, made of refuse rubbish banked around the 

 depression in the sand. There were four fresh eggs 

 placed small ends together and downwards, almost half buried 

 in the loose materials of the structure. 



A third set of eggs of the spotted sandpiper was taken on 

 June 25, on the same sandy point mentioned in the former 

 instance. The nest was in a little clump of sprouts, about 

 twenty feet from the water, and well concealed on all sides. 



