Snipe, was on a hummocky tuft of grass, Although I found the young only half fledged the last Aveek in 
July, and hunted the morasses very carefully, I never flushed or saw a single old bird; yet undoubtedly they 
must have been there ; so diflacult is it at that period to get them on the wing, and so entirely different from 
their habits in the spring. They are said by Nilsson to be rare visitants to Scandinavia ; they are, 
however, numerously dispersed, but from their small size and hiding habits are difficult to he discovered, 
added to the almost impassable nature of the swamps they frequent. There were several small colonies of 
them in different parts of the extensive swamp at Fogstuen ; I procured five specimens there, and might 
have obtained as many more, had I desired it. I also procured one nest with four eggs in it.” 
The following notes were communicated to Mr. HcAvitson by the late Mr. John Wolley; — 
“ The Broad-billed Sandpiper differs from other wading birds in the situation of its nest : choosing open 
soft places in the marsh, where there is little else than bog-moss, with a light groAvth of a kind of sedge, and 
on a low tuft just rising above the water, its nest may he found often without difficulty . . . But it must 
not he supposed that this kind of bird-nesting is very easyAvork. The marshes Avhere the Broad-billed Sand- 
piper is to he found are few and far between ; they are soft and full of water, and often every step is a 
struggle ; while the swarms of hungry gnats require almost individual attention. The sun is scorching at 
midday, biit at midnight has not enough poAver to keep away an unpleasant chill. The country to he gone 
over is of vast extent, the egg-season very short ; sleep is seldom attainable, a fev erish feeling comes on, and 
present enjoyment soon ceases. 
“It is about the third week in June or just before midsummer, Avhen the thickest clouds of gnats rise 
from the water Avhich is so generally spread over the recently thaAved land, that the Broad-billed Sandpiper 
lays its eggs. Many empty nests are found for one that is occupied ; and these I suppose to be nests of 
former years ; for the moss in which they are usually worked, long retains any marks made in it, being bard 
frozen for more than half the year. They are neatly rounded hollows, and have a few bits of grass at the 
bottom. The bird sometimes flies and sometimes runs off ber eggs, and, if she has sat for a day or two, Avill 
come back even Avhllst men are standing all round. The eggs are usually very deeply and richly coloured 
when fresh, but they fade sadly soon after they are bloAAUi. As SAvedlsh ornithologists consider the Broad- 
billed Sandpiper to be an accidental visitor to their country, I suppose its breeding-grounds to be confined 
to this far northern region.” 
Mr. Hewitson has figured two eggs selected from a numerous series by Mr. Wolley as characteristic of 
those of the species, and remarks that they “ bear no resemblance whatever, except in shape, to the eggs of 
any of the Sandpipers with which we are acquainted, and in their singular colouring are unlike the eggs of 
any other bird.” They are represented of a chocolate-red, largely blotched and freckled Avith a darker tint 
of the same colour, particularly on the larger half ; in one these markings are more sharply defined and on a 
lighter surfiice than in the other. One measures rather more than an inch and an eighth in length by seA^en 
eighths in breadth ; the other, which is somewhat more pyriform, one inch and a quarter by seven eighths. 
Mr. Jerdon informs us that this bird is tolerably common toAA'ards the north of India, but is rare in the 
south, and that it abounds more on the sea-coasts and on tidal rivers than far inland. 
Mr. Swinhoe mentions that, at Foochow, this and seA^eral allied species are seen on the coast in 
September, chiefly on their Avay to more southerly regions, to pass up again in March, or in the beginning 
of April, and are often found in those months by inlatid salt marshes. In Formosa, flocks Avere frequently 
met on the south-west shores, in September. Most of those he procured were in partial summer-plumage, 
with more or less freckled breasts. 
In summer, the prevailing tint of the upper surface is blackish broAvn, interrupted on the head and 
occiput by tAvo obscure longitudinal narrow bands of sandy broAvn, and by the margins of the feathers 
on the body and Avings being margined with mingled dull Avhlte and buff ; over the eye a broad stripe 
of greyish Avhite, heloAv Avhich, betAveen the bill and eye, is a narrow one of black ; greater wing-coverts 
and secondaries edged Avith white ; primaries blackish broAvn, Avith white shafts ; lengthened tertiaries, 
margined with rufous ; two central tail-feathers blackish broAvn, margined externally at the tip AAUth 
rufous ; the remainder light greyish broAvn, narroAvly edged Avith Avhite, and having Avhite shafts ; chin 
greyish white ; sides of the neck, breast, and flanks dark, or blackish broAvn, each feather margined with 
greyish Avhite and taAvny, giA'ing a spotted appearance ; abdomen and under tail-coA^erts Avhite, each feather 
of the latter with an oblong mark of brown near tbe tip ; bill black, becoming reddish at the base ; gular 
pouch reddish flesh-colour ; irides brown ; legs and feet olive. 
In winter the general tint is ashy grey, all the feathers being largely margined with that colour, and the 
dark centres of the feathers of the sides of the neck, breast, and flanks assume the form of small striae. 
The Plate represents two birds in summer-, and one in Avinter-plumage. The lichen is the Peltidea canina, 
formerly believed to l)e a cure for hydrophobia. 
