98 
THE STILT. 
associations, consisting perhaps of six or eight pair, takes 
up its residence during the breeding season. About the 
first week in May they begin to construct their nests, which 
are at* first slightly formed of a small quantity of old grass, 
scarcely sufficient to keep the eggs from the wet marsh. 
As they lay and sit, however, either dreading the rise of 
the tides, or for some other purpose, the nest is increased 
in height, with dry twigs of a shrub very common in the 
marshes, roots of the salt grass, sea-weed, and various other 
substances, the whole weighing between two and three 
pounds. This habit of adding materials to the nest after 
the female begins sitting, is common to almost all other 
birds that breed in the marshes. The eggs are four in 
number, of a dark yellowish clay-colour, thickly marked 
with large blotches of black. These nests are often placed 
within fifteen or twenty yards of each other; but the 
greatest harmony seems to prevail among the proprietors. 
While the females are sitting, the males are either wading 
through the ponds, or roaming over the adjoining marshes; 
but should a person make his appearance, the whole collect 
together in the air, flying with their long legs extended 
behind them, keeping up a continual yelping note of click, 
click , click. Their flight is steady, and not in short, sud- 
den jerks, like that of the plover. As they frequently 
alight on the bare marsh, they drop their wings, stand with 
their legs half bent, and trembling, as if unable to sustain 
the burden of their bodies. In this ridiculous posture they 
