158 BULLETIN 113, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



ovate. The ground color varies from " Isabella color " or " wood 

 brown " in the darkest specimens to " olive buff " or " cream buff " 

 in the lightest specimens, both of which extremes are unusual. The 

 prevailing types show various intermediate shades of " olive buff " 

 or ''olive brown," or, more rarely, a pale olive greenish tinge. I 

 have one set in which the ground color is very pale " pea green " 

 and is almost immaculate. The markings consist of spots and 

 blotches, or more rarely irregular scrawls, scattered more or less 

 evenly over the egg, but often more thickly about the 'large end. 

 These vary in color from " seal brown " or " clove brown " to " Mars 

 brown " or " raw umber." In many specimens there are underlying 

 spots or blotches of " drab gray " or " olive gray." The measure- 

 ments of 69 eggs in the United States National Museum collection 

 average 53.5 by 38.5 millimeters; the eggs showing the four ex- 

 tremes measure 63 by 37, 52 by 43, 48.5 by 37, and 52.5 by 30.5 

 millimeters. 



Young. — The period of incubation is about 20 days. The young 

 when first hatched are carefully brooded by their parents, who stand 

 over them to protect them in wet weather or to shield them from the 

 rays of the hot sun. : They are fed at first on half -digested soft 

 food, which they take from the open bill of the old bird,) but later 

 on are weaned and taught to feed on solid food. They remain in the 

 nest for a few days, but soon learn to run about and hide in the 

 grass or under herbage. For the next month or six weeks they lead 

 an inactive life during the period of growth-feeding, resting and 

 sleeping most of the time. They are fed by their parents until they 

 are able to fly and for some little time thereafter. The flight stage 

 is reached, on Muskeget, during the last week of July or the first 

 week of August, at which time the adults, still in full nuptial 

 plumage, may be seen hovering over the little grassy meadows, where 

 young birds of various sizes may be found hidden in the long thick 

 grass, so well concealed that one must be careful not to walk on 

 them. Here they remain motionless until disturbed, often until 

 touched, when they run nimbly or fly away. Comparatively few 

 young birds may be seen exercising in the open sandy spaces or on 

 the beaches, running about on their long legs almost as fast as a man 

 can run, or learning to make short flights from the high spots. 



Plumages. — The young are thickly covered with long, soft down. 

 The prevailing color above is " wood brown " or " drab," which is 

 often more or less extensively tinged with "tawny olive" or "cin- 

 namon,' and the under parts show* paler shades of the same colors 

 tinged with " tawny ochraceous " on the breast or throat. There is 

 no white below. The head, neck, and throat are clearly spotted or 

 striped with dull black, dusky, or very dark brown ; and the back is 

 more or less heavily mottled or clouded with the same dark colors. 



