Birds. 



81(H) 



it was constantly on the move, now and again stopping to pick up a worm or a slug 

 which had incautiously placed itself in its way. Its movements were graceful and 

 quick; it used to run with the neck comparatively short, its eyes ever actively on the 

 alert for some dainty morsel: as the shades of evening drew near, it appeared to move 

 more actively than during the day, if possible searching with renewed vigour: while 

 standing the legs and thighs were very forward; in feeding it only slightly inclined 

 the body forward, and, lowering the neck in a curve, it would make a determined dart 

 at its food ; while at rest (which appeared to be only during the hottest part of the 

 day) it squatted flat upon the ground, with head and neck brought close to the 

 shoulders ; in running it took long and rapid strides; in walking the feet were carried 

 rather wide, not as in the Tringa family, which while walking or running place one 

 foot over the other; the tail, which it kept constantly on the move, was carried rather 

 high ; the knees were very swollen (naturally so): it must have been the young of this 

 bird that first led naturalists to apply the appellation of " thick-kneed " plover, as 

 adult birds of this species never present a puffy appearance in their knee-joints. — 

 S. P. Saville ; Dover House, Cambridge, July 13, 1862. 



Snipes' Nests in Oxfordshire. — Several nests of the snipe have been mown out in 

 Mr. Richard Lord's common near Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, and the head of one 

 old bird cut off with the scythe: this is an unusual occurrence, as the snipe was never 

 known to breed in that locality before. I have some of the eggs, sent me by Mr. G. 

 Arnatt, of Stanton Harcourt, a friend of Mr. Lord's. — W. Hollis ; 8, Canonbury 

 Cottages, Lower Road, Islington. 



Unusual Situation of a Sandpiper's Nest. — Some weeks ago, as I was walking by 

 the side of a rough stone wall, about half-a-dozen yards from a small pool of fresh 

 water, a common sandpiper flew out close to my feet; and on stooping down I was 

 surprised to find its nest, containing four eggs, placed upon the ground, and so far 

 back in a crevice that my hand, when inserted up to the wrist, was only just able to 

 reach the eggs. The hollow in which the nest was situated was about an inch and a 

 half deep in the centre, and had probably been excavated by the bird, as the soil was 

 very loose and dry. The lining of the nest consisted of fine dry grass and about thirty 

 white feathers ; beneath was a somewhat thick bed of moss and half-dried pond-weed, 

 a considerable mass of which filled up a crevice behind. I have found many nests of 

 the common sandpiper, but never knew one to contain so large a quantity of material, 

 or to be so neatly and compactly made. The very unusual addition of feathers was 

 readily accounted for when I observed the quantity of them lying at the margin of 

 the pool, which was much resorted to by geese. It may be just possible that, the nest 

 having been disturbed by these birds upon former occasions, the poor sandpipers, in 

 the unconscious fulfilment of a well-known ada»e, " went to the wall" forthwith. It 

 has no doubt been frequently remarked that the common sandpiper, when unmolested, 

 will return to the same spot, year after year, for the purpose of incubation. I remem- 

 ber an old gardener in North Wales showing me a hollow at the foot of a thick bush 

 of yellow broom, and assuring me that a pair of these birds had for many years been 

 in the habit of bringing out their young there ; in the following spring I had the 

 satisfaction of seeing the pair return to that very spot, and of watching them from the 

 time they collected the first few dry broom-pods, as the commencement of their nest, 

 until long after the young birds accompanied their parents to the river-side. — 

 Henry L. Suxby ; H.M.S. 'Devonshire] Sheerness, July 31, 1862. 



VOL. XX. 



