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Range (Temperate North America)

"Temperate North America, chiefly in the interior, breeding from northern Illinois and Utah northward to the Saskatchewan region; south in winter to Brazil and Patagonia" (A. O. U.).

Long Island, casual, Aug., Sept., and Oct.

Nest, a shallow depression in soft earth lined with a thin layer of fragments of grass. Eggs, three to four, cream-buff or buffy white, heavily blotched with deep chocolate, 1.28 × 94. (See Nelson, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, ii, 1879, pp. 38-43.) "These birds are rare in the Eastern States, abundant in the Mississippi Valley, and quite common westward within their range. They inhabit the marshes, swales, and edges of shallow ponds, feeding upon minute snails and other small forms of life that abound in their aquatic haunts, procuring the same chiefly by running over the moist ground or wading in the short growths of water grasses. They swim buoyantly, but seldom long at a time or far from the shore, and I never saw one dive or make an attempt to do so, but, when frightened, prefer to escape by flight, which is strong, but at such times in a zigzag and wavy manner, dropping back as soon as out of danger. As a rule they are not timid, and are easily approached. Their motions, whether upon the land or water, are easy and pleasing, gracefully nodding the head or picking from side to side as they go" (Goss).