C O M M O N S A N D P IP E R .
COMMON SANDPIPER.
TOTANUS HYPOLEUCUS {Linn.).
Tringa hypoleucos, Linn. S. N. i. p. 250 (1766).
Actitis hypoleucos, Naum. viii. p. 7; Macg. iv. p. 351.
Totanus hypoleucos, Hewitson, ii. p. 333; Dresser, viii.
p. 127.
Totanus hypoleucus, Yarr. ed. 4, iii. p. 446.
Chevalier guignette, French; Fluss-Uferldufer, German;
Andarios, Lavandera chica, Spanish.
This pleasant little bird is a common summer visitor
to almost all the streams of the United Kingdom,
perhaps more numerous in Scotland and Wales than
elsewhere; but in my experience there is hardly a river,
a lake, or even a considerable pond in our country, upon
whose banks this Sandpiper may not be found between
the middle of April and the end of September. I have
more than once noticed a few of this species on our
southern coasts as late as the middle of November, but
such lingering is decidedly exceptional. Por nesting-
purposes this bird prefers the neighbourhood of rapid
streams or gravelly lakes to that of still muddy waters.
The nest is composed of dry grass and rushes, moss, and
occasionally a few dead leaves; it is generally well