LONG-TAILED SANDPIPER. 
long-drawn, soft, mellow whistle, of a peculiarly clear, resonant quality ; but 
beside this, they have a note peculiar, I believe, to this period of their lives. 
This is a very loud, prolonged cry, sounding more Hke the whistling of the 
wind than a bird’s voice ; the wild sound, which is strangely mournful, is 
generally uttered when the bird, just alighted, holds its wings for a moment 
perpendicularly, before adjusting them over its back. It is frequently heard 
in the night, all through the breeding-season, and is, I think, one of the 
most remarkable outcries I ever heard. There is yet another note that 
the Tattler utters, chiefly when disturbed breeding ; this is a harsh scream, 
quickly and often repeated, much like that given by other waders under 
the same circumstances. 
“ In Northern Dakota the eggs are mostly laid by the second week in 
June ; the time is quite constant ; and, so far as I know, only one brood is 
raised each year. The nest, hke that of other birds breeding on the open 
prairie, is hard to find, as there is nothing whatever to guide a search, and 
the herbage of the prairie, flimsy as it usually is at this season, is sufficient 
to hide the variegated eggs which assimilate with the colors of their sur- 
roundings. The nesting is quite similar to that of the Curlews and Godwits. 
I have found nests on the open prairie without landmarks ; but, perhaps, 
oftener they are placed in the vicinity of pools and sloughs, or along the 
edge of a piece of woods — always, however, in an open spot. The female 
is a close setter, and will suffer herself to be almost trodden upon before she 
will quit her charge — ^indeed nests are oftenest found by the fluttering of the 
female from under one’s feet. Early in incubation she generally flies to a little 
distance and re-alights, walking leisurely about the grass ; but if the eggs be 
far advanced she is more solicitous, and wiU feign lameness, in hope of drawing 
attention from the nest. The male soon joins her, and the pair hover low over 
the ground, flying slowly around with incurved wings, uttering their cries 
of distress ; and as several pairs are usually nesting within hearing, they, too, 
become alarmed, and the general clamor is continued until the intruder 
withdraws. The scene is much the same as when the breeding-places of the 
Curlews, Willets, or Godwits are invaded. 
“ The nest is flimsy — ^merely a few straws to keep the eggs from the 
ground, in a slight depression. The eggs are ordinarily four in number, as 
usual among waders. The numerous specimens I have collected are some- 
what notably constant in characters, both of size and coloration. In dimen- 
sions they range from 1.90 by 1.30 inches, to 1.70 by 1.25, averaging about 
1.75 by 1.28. The ground is pale clay-color, or a very light drab — sometimes 
the palest possible creamy-brown — ^with scarcely a shade of olivaceous. 
They are ppotted all over, but much more thickly at the larger end, with 
VOL. m. 
237 
