146 NE8T8 AND EGGS OF 



eggs of this species have been until a comparatively recent date of special desiderat- 

 um, and only a few specimens are as yet to be found in the numerous collections. 

 In the last edition of this work I mentioned an egg supposed to belong to this species, 

 which I took in an open field bordering the Scioto River, near Columbus, Ohio, in the 

 latter part of May, 1877. This specimen was first described by the late Dr. J. M. 

 Wheaton.* The egg was of a pointed oval shape, and not nearly so pyriform as are 

 the eggs of most of this family, size 1.25 by .88, smaller than the eggs of the Spotted - 

 Sandpiper. The ground was clay-color with a reddish tinge, thickly marked with 

 reddish and blackish-brown. The nest was on the ground in as exposed a locality as 

 is ever frequented by this bird. It contained two eggs, both far advanced in incuba- 

 tion, only one of which was preserved. In Jones's magnificent workf this egg is ac- 

 curately figured. From comparisons made at the time this si>ecimen could not be 

 referred to any other species than that of the Solitary Sandpiper. Dr. Brewer de- 

 scribes an egg, taken May 28, 1878, by Mr. Jenness Richardson, near Lake Bombazine, 

 Vermont. It measures 1.32x.90. The ground color is of a light drab, similar to that 

 of JEsfialitls meloda; over the surface are scattered small rounded markings of brown, 

 some of these are quite dark, nowhere confluent, and not large enough to be called 

 blotches. Its shape was elongated pyriform. Mr. Capen, in his finely illustrated 

 work,t gives a faithful colored illustration of this specimen. The female parent of 

 this egg was shot as she left the nest. 



256a. WESTERN SOLITARY SANDPIPER. Totanus solitariux Himamoneus 

 Brewst. Geog. Dist. — Pacific coast region, eastward to the Plains. 



The Cinnamon Solitary Sandpiper of the Pacific coast region and the plains is 

 a race not always distinguishable from the eastern ppecies, T. solitarius. According 

 to descriptions given by Mr. Brewster (Auk, VIII, p. 377), from specimens collected 

 by Mr. Frazar in Lower California, the bird is larger, wing grayer, the light spots 

 on the back, scapulars, and wing-coverets brownish-cinnamon, instead of white or 

 buffy whitish; the sides of the head more whitish, especially on the lores; no well- 

 defined loral stripes. 



[257.] GREEN SANDPIPER. Totanus ochropus (Linn.) Geog. Dist.— North- 

 ern Portions of the Old World. Accidental in Nova Scotia. 



If we may regard the authority of the older ornithologists, Richardson and 

 Nuttall, this bird obtained from them recognition as a straggler to North America. 

 Its claim to our fauna, however, has been restored by the capture of a single speci- 

 men, said to have been taken in Nova Scotia, which was in the possession of J. 

 Edmund Harting, Esq. The bird is very similar to our Solitary Tattler and aver- 

 ages slightly larger. It is very generally distributed through Europe and in some 

 places esteemed a great delicacy for the table. Said to breed in all the northern 

 portions of Asia. In England it is considered an abundant bird in spring and fall 

 and a number of pairs remain to breed. Known also as the Whistling Sandpiper. 

 It frequents the shores of the sea and inland lakes, the banks of shallow streams 

 and the borders of ponds and marshes. Breeds in various parts of Northwestern 

 Germany and is known to nest in Southeastern France. The Green Sandpiper is 

 said to be very peculiar in its mode of nesting — depositing its eggs in old nests 



* In his Report on the Birds of Ohio. Vol IV, Ohio Geological Survey, entitled 

 Zoology and Botany, p. 4S6. 



t Illustrations of the Nests and Eg-gs of Birds of Ohio. Illustrations by Mrs. N. B. 

 Jones: Text by Howard Jones, A. M., M. D., Clrclevllle, Ohio, 1886. 

 % Oology of New England: Plate XIX. Fig. 6. 



