BIRDS OF NORTHEEN OAIs^ADA 331 



2-il. Baird's Sandpiper — Actodromas hairdii (Coues). 



On the 26th of May, ISSS, Mr. John Reid shot a female 

 bird near Fort Providence, which was forwarded to Dr. R. 

 Bell. ISTot abundant in the Anderson River region, where 

 we, however, discovered several nests in the Barren Grounds 

 and at other points thereof. It may be mentioned that sand- 

 pipers' nests seldom vary in position and number of eggs. 

 Absent from Mr. Ross's List of Birds observed by him in 

 the Mackenzie River District. 



One of the nests in question, taken on the 24th of 

 June, 1864, in the Barren Grounds, in a swampy or 

 marshy tract between two small lakes, was composed 

 of a few decayed leaves placed in a small cavity or 

 depression in the ground, shaded by a tuft of grass. The 

 female bird glided away from the nest on being approached, 

 passing closely by me, and then fluttered along, drooping her 

 wings as if wounded, endeavouring thus to lead me away 

 therefrom. It is very uncommon in any northern section 

 traversed by us. 



The Ottawa Museum contains nine specimens, but no 

 eggs, of this interesting sandpiper! 



246. Semipalmated Sandpiper — Ereunetes pusillus 

 (Linn.). 



In the early sixties of the nineteenth century we found 

 this sandpiper fairly abundant in the Barren Grounds, but 

 more so on the coast shores of Franklin Bay, where a num- 

 ber of birds with eggs were secured. We had sometimes 

 occasion to admire the interesting manner, regardless of the 

 danger to herself, in which the mother endeavoured to draw 

 av7ay intruders from the vicinity of her nest. She would 

 glide away in an apparently disabled condition, and so con- 

 tinue for some distance. The nests are occasionally hidden 

 by tufts of grass, while an experience of the 30th June, 1865, 

 is worthy of quoting herein : "In reference to one nest, 



