THE BIRD BOOK 
v- 
262. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 
Tryngites subruficollis. 
Range. — Interior of North America, breeding 
from the Hudson Bay region to the Arctic coast. 
A huffy colored species, with a peculiarly mar- 
bled back. Size 8.5 inches long. It is an upland 
species like the last. The nests are scantily lined 
depressions in the ground. The eggs have a 
grayish white ground 
and are boldly blotched 
with rich brown and 
chestnut with fainter 
markings of lilac. Size 
1.45 x 1.05. Data. — Cape 
Smythe, Alaska, June, 
1900. 4 eggs in a hol- 
low in dry spot on a 
marsh. Collector, H. H. 
Bodfish. Grayish white. 
263. Spotted Sandpiper. Actitis macularia. 
Range. — Whole of North America from Hudson 
Bay southward, breeding throughout its range. 
A small wader about 7.5 inches in length, with 
brownish gray upper parts, and white underparts 
thickly spotted with blackish, especially on the 
breast and flanks. This is the most abundant of 
all the shore birds, and its “peet-weet” is a famil- 
iar sound to every country boy. It has a peculiar 
habit of continually moving its tail up and down, 
when at rest on a stone or when running along 
the shore; from these characteristic actions it 
has received the very common names of “Teeter- 
tail” and “Tip-up.” They build their nests on the 
ground near ponds, brooks or marshes, generally 
concealing it in a tuft of grass or weeds on the 
shore or in the high grass at the edge of the 
meadows. The eggs number from three to five and are of a grayish buff color, 
spotted and blotched with blackish brown. The young, like those of all the 
shore birds, are hatched covered with down, and run about as soon as born. 
They are anxiously attended by the parents and at 
the least sign of danger, conceal themselves beneath 
a tuft of grass or behind a small stone, where they 
remain perfectly motionless until called by the old 
birds. The adults frequently attempt to lead an en- 
emy away from the young by feigning a broken 
wing, or lameness. Size of eggs 1.35 x .90. Data. — 
Parker County, Ind., May 22, 1901. Nest about six 
yards from bank of creek, among weeds on a sand 
bar; a hollow in the sand lined with weeds. Collec- 
tor, Winfield S. Catlin. Buff. 
Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 
Spotted Sandpiper. 
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