The nest described by Dr. Macallum in Mcllwraith's Birds of 

 Ontario as of this species, is evidently referable to the next. 



MUSEUM SPECIMEN. 



One specimen, purchased with the Holman collection, Said to 

 have been taken at Toronto, Ont. 



XCVI. ACTITIS Illiger. i8ii. 



263. Spotted Sandpiper. 



Actitis macularia (Linn.) Naumann. 1836. 



This is a common species in Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova 

 Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec and 

 Ontario. In all these provinces it breeds, either by the sea, 

 shores of lakes or banks of rivers, but never in colonies. Seldom 

 more than one pair is found in the same place. 



From Manitoba to the Pacific it is found breeding in suitable 

 situations, both in the mountains and on the plains. According 

 to Ross and Macfarline it extends almost to the Arctic Sea, 

 being common on the Barren Grounds and in the Mackenzie 

 River valley. Only a few specimens have been taken in Alaska, 

 along the Yukon, but there is no reason why it should not breed 

 there. 



Breeding Notes. —Found breeding from Muskoka, Ont., to 

 Victoria, Vancouver Island, and northeast to Ungava, in Labra- 

 dor. Nest,, a hole in the ground lined with grass, and placed 

 beneath a tuft of old grass or small bush, always near water. 

 The young leave the nest as soon as hatched. {Spreadborough.) 

 This species, besides breeding inland in all suitable places, is 

 especially common near the St. Lawrence River. I have found 

 numbers of their nests in June along the gravel bar at the foot of 

 Amherst Island, Lake Ontario ; also on the small islands down 

 the river. They usually construct a nest in a bunch of weeds, of 

 dried grass, chips or anything to hand, concealing it well. I 

 have found the nest twice in a field of grain, away from water 

 and once under a bush among trees on an island in a lake. The 

 first eggs are usually laid about the 20th May, but are occasionally 

 met with as late as July 1st. I met with this bird frequently 

 breeding in the Magdalen Islands, Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 



