302 PR.ECOCIAL GKALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



black dorsal stripe from the bill to lla- tuil ; a uarrow black liiie through the eye. Beneath, dull 



white. 



Total length, about 7.75 inches ; extent, 13.00-14.00 ; wing, 4.05-4.30 ; culmen, .90-1.00 ; tar- 

 sus, .90-1.05 ; middle toe, .70-80. Mandible and edge of the maxilla pale wax-yellow (in life) ; 

 rest of bill black ; iris dark brown; tarsi and toes pale grayish olive. 



The Peet-weet, or Spotted Sandpiper, is one of our most common as well as most 

 widely distributed species. It is found throughout nearly all North America, in 

 the interior and on the shores of both the Pacitic and the Atlantic Oceans, breeding 

 wherever found, from Texas to Alaska, and from Florida to Fort Anderson. That 

 it is irregular in its occurrence would appear from the fact that Eichardson nowhere 

 met with it in the Fur Eegion, neither in the interior nor on the sea-coast. It is 

 found in Bermuda and in nearly all the "West India Islands, breeding in some of 

 them, and is met with in winter in Mexico, Central America, different parts of South 

 America, and is also of accidental occurrence in Europe. 



Major Wedderburn writes that he first met with it in the Bermudas, in immature 

 plumage, July 20, 1847, and that he afterward found it common on all the shores of 

 these islands, where some remain all winter, having been met with rather frequently 

 in xVpril, 1849, fe"w of them liaving their mature plumage ; but they are not known to 

 breed there. In Guatemala, according to Salvin, it is to be met with in the winter 

 months about most of the rivers of that region. It is found principally in the imma- 

 ture plumage. Its range is wide, including both the table-lands and the coast coun- 

 try. Mr. C. W. Wyatt (•' Ibis," 1871) mentions meeting with this species on the 

 borders of a stream near Ocafia, in Colombia, 8. A. It is given by Dr. Gundlach as a 

 bird of Cuba, and is mentioned by Gosse as a common species in Jamaica, where it 

 haunts the margins and shallows of rocky streams. It arrives there about the end of 

 August, and remains until after the middle of April. Professor Newton mentions it 

 as tolerably common in St. Croix, where it probably remains all the winter. Accord- 

 ing to the observations of Mr. Edw^ard Newton, it is absent from that island from 

 April 27 to July 27. INIr. E. C. Taylor speaks of it as abundant in Trinidad, in suit- 

 able localities, where Leotaud also met with it, but confounded it with the Common 

 Sandpiper (Z hypoleucus) of Europe. He states that it is both a migrant and a resi- 

 dent in that island, feeding along the sea-shore and near inland pools, keeping gen- 

 erally by itself, but assembling at night to roost in the branches of the mangroves 

 over the water. It is lively and graceful in manners, and when stopping vibrates 

 its head and tail almost continually. Its flight is described as rapid, and it utters 

 a cry as it moves which gives to it the local name of " Picwit." In August the num- 

 ber of these birds is greatly increased by the arrival of new-comers, which again 

 depart in October. 



On Long Island Giraud observed it to l>e the first of its family to arrive in the 

 spring, appearing there the middle of April, and remaining until quite late in autumn, 

 staying until nearly all the other Tringce had departed. It is a very common spe- 

 cies, and from its habit of constantly raising and lowering its tail has in that region 

 the local name of " Teeter." It is not known to associate in large flocks, but is quite 

 solitary in its habits, preferring moist grounds in the vicinity of streams and ponds, 

 and often resorting to the ploughed fields to glean the worms which lie exposed in 

 the furrows. This bird begins to Iniild its nest early in May, using for that purpose 

 straw and dry grasses, placing it on the ground, where it is often found, along the 

 banks of small streams and on the margins of jDonds, and not infrequently in exposed 

 parts of pastures, among the stubble. The young run about as soon as hatched, 

 and at first utter low whispering notes, which soon increase in strength, and become 



