100 SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



GENUS TRYNGITES. 



262. Tryngites SUbruflcoUis (VieilL). Buff-breasted Sand- 

 piper. 



Toes not webbed ; bill slender, straig-ht, and about as long- as middle 

 toe without claw ; under surface of wing beautifully mottled and marbled 

 with black on white and creamy. Adults : upper parts dull brownish 

 buff, the feathers with black or dusky centers ; under parts plain rich 

 buff. Young : like adults, but feathers of back edged with whitish. 

 Length: 7.00-8.90. wing 5.10-5.50, bill .75-.80, tarsus 1.15-1.30. 



Distribution. — North America in general, especially the interior, breed- 

 ing from the interior of British America and the Yukon district to the 

 arctic coast ; south in winter to Uruguay and Peru. Occasional in 

 Europe. 



Nest. — A depression in the ground lined with a little moss or grass. 

 Eggs : usually 4, grayish or pale olive buff, spotted with dark brown and 

 purplish gray. 



Although so widely distributed, the buff-breasted sandpipers do 

 not seem to be common except on their northern breeding groimds, 

 and in some of their southern stopping places. In the spring migra- 

 tion they are abundant on the coast prairies of Texas and' Louisiana 

 and are favorite game birds of the pot-hunters because they go in 

 dense flocks on the open prairie and yield many birds to few shots. 



GENUS ACTITIS. 



263. Actitis macularia (Linn.). Spotted Sandpiper. 



Small and slender, bill apj)roximately the length of tarsus, or of middle 

 toe and claw. Adults in summer : entire upper parts bronzy or greenish 

 olive, faintly marked with dusky ; under parts white, marked, except on 

 middle of belly, with round spots of dusky ; quills dusky, secondaries 

 tipped with white, with a conspicuous white line along the middle of open 

 wing. Adidts in winter : white of under parts unspotted. Young : like 

 winter adults but finely barred on wings and back with dusky and buff. 

 Length : 7-8, wing 4.05-4.60, bill .90-1.05, tarsus .90-1.05. 



Remarks. — In the field the spotted sandpiper can always be recognized 

 by its small size, plain gray color, and the conspicuous white bar along the 

 middle of the wing in flight. 



Distribution. — Whole of North America, breeding throughout most of 

 its range ; south in winter to Brazil and Uruguay. 



Nest. — On dry ground in tuft of grass or under low bush, lined with 

 leaves and grass. Eggs : 4, buffy, spotted with lilac, dark brown, and 

 black. 



Although never numerous or in flocks, the spotted sandpiper or 

 river sand peep is the commonest and best known of our sandpipers 

 over the country at large. There is hardly a patch of water from 

 the brooks in the mountain meadows to the rivers in the lowlands 

 which has not one or more pairs of these little quaker gray birds 

 picking along their shores with teetering gait, and with shrill peet- 

 weet, buzzing from stone to stone so fast that their wing tips seem 



