216 
SCOLOPACID^.. 
to eat my lunch, and to write in my pocket-book a few particu- 
lars as to the appearance and habits of the birds. I then took 
time to think over the matter quietly. The fact of my having 
found a nearly perfect egg in one of the birds shot at the same 
place only a few days previously, proved quite plainly that my 
want of success was not owing to the young being already 
hatched ; besides, even if they were abroad weeks ago, where 
were the nests ? It was certain that the eggs were somewhere, 
therefore I returned to the marshes, determined not to leave a 
single square yard unexplored. 
As before, I put up plenty of Snipe and a number of Dunlins, 
all in beautiful summer plumage, and once more fell in with 
pairs of Phalaropes in aU directions, but still there were no 
nests. Then, up to my knees in mud and water, I stood still, 
wondering, and, it must be confessed, not a little out of temper. 
Now, at the other end of the swamp, where there seemed to be 
no birds, was a quantity of drier ground, covered with mode- 
rately long withered grass, and intersected in every direction 
by numerous irregular natural drains, some not more than three 
feet wide, others as many yards, but all forming a network so 
close and intricate as to leave no piece of dry land larger than 
ten or twelve feet across. Again I set to work, not, it is true, 
with any great hope of success, but because I had fully 
resolved to examine the whole of the swamp, so that in case of 
failure there might at least be no after reproaches. Very soon 
I discovered what my error had been. First, I found a rough 
sort of nest, composed of dry grass, too small and too deep for 
a Dunlin’s, and therefore, in all probability, that of a 
Phalarope ; then, within a few minutes, I discovered two more 
nests, newly commenced, but no eggs. Shortly afterwards I 
picked up the broken shell of a newly hatched egg, then frag- 
ments of three others, and close beside them a perfect nest. I 
carefully packed the fragments in a chip box, in order to con- 
vince sceptics, and then noted down the description of the nest- 
It consisted of nothing more than a cavity low down among 
the tall grass ; deep in form, and rather neatly lined with 
