Life histories of North American shore birds, Part 1 (of 2)Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Science
Life histories of North American shore birds, Part 1 (of 2)
Bent, Arthur Cleveland
Birds -- Behavior; Shore birds -- North America
_Nesting._--MacFarlane's notes record brief descriptions of some half a
dozen nests found in the Anderson River region and on the borders of the
wooded country. These were all located on marshy ground near a swamp or
small lake. One is described as "a mere depression in the midst of a
tuft or decayed grass, lined with a few withered leaves." A set
collected for me by F. S. Hersey, near St. Michael, Alaska, June 9,
1914, was taken from a hollow in the moss between two clumps of grass on
the tundra; the female was flushed and shot. Mr. Brandt says in his
notes:
The nest of the long-billed dowitcher is a mere depression
scratched out on a small eminence on a wet moss-covered meadow
through which short sedges grow sparingly to a height of about six
inches. The nest, the bottom of which was usually wet, was in every
case surrounded by shallow fresh water and the basinlike cavity was
meagerly lined with grass and small leaves. In two nests the eggs
rested on the cold wet moss foundation still frozen a few inches
underneath and the scanty nesting material was all deposited on the
rim of the nest. In every instance the female was conducting the
incubation, but the male was in close attendance. The bird is a
very close sitter and must be almost trodden upon before it will
rise, wings spread, from its duties.
_Eggs._--Four eggs seems to be the invariable rule for the long-billed
dowitcher. In shape they vary from ovate pyriform to subpyriform; some
are quite rounded and others are decidedly pointed. They have only a
slight gloss. Mr. Brandt in his notes describes his four sets, as
follows:
The ground color has considerable variation and shows two distinct
types: The commoner one, the brown type, of which we found three
sets is "Saccardo's olive"; and the other type, represented by a
single set, is "greenish," shading to "bluish glaucous." The
markings are bold, slightly elongated and seldom confluent, so that
blotched markings are unusual. The eggs are medium to heavily
spotted, causing the ground color to be conspicuous, and, in
consequence, the underlying markings are very noticeable. The
primary spots are in various shades of brown, namely: "Vandyke
brown," "seal brown," and "Saccardo's umber," which make the egg
one of unusual beauty. The underlying spots are "drab gray" to
"light grayish olive" and are larger and more numerous than are
found on the other limicoline eggs we collected at Hooper Bay.
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