SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 
161 
the end of July, they incessantly repeat their loud and 
shrill notes, which resemble in sound the words Pill- 
will-willet. They build their nest on the ground ; 
it is constructed of coarse grass : the female lays four 
dark dusky-olive eggs, largely blotched with blackish- 
brown ; they are placed nearly upright in the nest, 
during incubation, with the small end downwards. 
Wilson says, the anxiety and affection manifested 
by these birds for their eggs and young are truly in- 
teresting. A person no sooner enters the marshes 
than he is beset by them, flying around and skimming 
over his head, vociferating with great violence their 
common cry, and uttering at times a loud clicking 
note, as he approaches nearer to their nest. As they 
occasionally alight and slowly shut their wings, they 
have a mournful, expressive note. During the time 
of incubation the female often resorts to the sea-shore, 
where, standing up to the belly in water, she washes 
and dresses her plumage ; she is also at other times 
in the habit of wading more in the water than most 
of the group, and, when wounded in the wing, will 
take to the water without hesitation, and swim tole- 
rably well. 
They subsist principally on small mollusca, marine 
vermes, and aquatic insects, in search of which they 
resort to the muddy shores and flats at low water. 
V. XII. p. I. 
11 
