Bartramia longi cauda . 
Heath, Massachusetts. 
3. 
empty nest which contained only a few tiny scraps of shell. 
The biggest piece was not so large as my thumb nail. No per- 
son knew of the nest excepting those who were guarding it de- 
votedly, so there is no likelihood that the robbers were human. 
The nest is simply a depression in the ground. 
It would seem that the bird had settled upon the dry moss 
and grasses just as they grew and that no material had been 
brought or any effort spent in constructing a nest. The 
grasses which crossed carelessly over the hollow seemed to 
fall in that way naturally but the perfect concealment which 
they formed for the coloring of the plover was very striking. 
These grasses were hardly disturbed by the robbery. In the 
center the nest was about anjlnch and a half deep, xxxxxxxx 
Mary Ab by White. 
JunelS, 1902. 
Heath, Massachusetts. 
My dear Professor Brewster, 
My spirits have risen since I wrote to you.. 
Parmer believes that the newly hatched plover, like partridges 
and chickens, are active about as soon as they leave the shell. 
He thinks there has been no tragedy. At any rate, we hear 
the plover again, higher on the upland, calling, and crying 
and when we went to the top of the hill last, the pair were 
* 
greatly exercised, the male circling overhead noisily and the 
