THE SANDPIPER. 
163 
on the ground among long grass and heather ; 
exposed as the eggs then are, both to weather 
and observation, the bird contrives to place them 
so as to take up the smallest possible space ; and 
this she effects by making them all meet at their 
smaller ends, which also taper more than most other 
eggs. 
The four little eggs, for they are much smaller 
than a Snipe's, huddled in so narrow a compass, 
require a keen and accustomed eye to see them, and, 
at the same time, are easily covered by the parent- 
bird. Her affection for her young is not confined to 
them when unable to take care of themselves after 
hatching, but is manifested when they are still in 
the egg; for should a stranger disturb her, she will, 
instead of running or flying away in her usual man- 
ner, immediately affect lameness, or decoy him away 
from the nest by tumbling over and over, as if in 
the last stage of weakness or decrepitude. Or, if 
actually found upon her nest, she will sometimes 
nobly persevere in sacrificing herself, rather than 
desert it. In two instances, amongst many, they 
were found to sit so close, that they allowed them- 
selves to be lifted off their nests rather than fly 
away. It is remarkable how much the same in- 
stinctive habits prevail in similar families of birds. 
Those who may not have had opportunities of 
witnessing these manoeuvres by the Sandpipers, have 
probably often watched the similar proceedings of 
our common Lapwing, or Pewit, which decoys a 
dog or a stranger away, either by screaming close to 
his ear, as she flits by in a sort of tumbling flight, or 
by scrambling along the ground as if wounded, when 
