Baird's Sandpiper 115 



Baird's Sandpiper. Pisohia bairdi. 



A.O.U. Checklist no 241— Colorado Records— Allen 72, p. 152 ; 

 Trippe 74, p. 485 ; Henshaw 75, p. 455 ; Drew 85, p. 18, Morrison 

 89, p. 167 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 65, 200 ; Rockwell 08, p. 159. 



Description. — Female in spring — Above mottled black, dark ashy, 

 pale tawny and whitish ; the rump and central upper tail-coverts 

 dusky, the lateral ones white ; tail-coverts very long, extending to 

 within -5 of tip of the tail ; central tail-feathers dusky, projecting 

 slightly, lateral ones lighter, narrowly edged with white ; below white, 

 except for a broad band across the lower-neck and chest which is 

 washed with pale ashy and finely spotted with brown; iris dark 

 brown, bill and legs black. Length 7*0; wing 4*8; tail 1*9; cuhnen 

 I'O ; tarsus "85. 



In autumn both young and adults aro rather more ashy, and there 

 is a shade of huffy in the chest wash. 



Distribution. — Breeding chiefly on the Barren Grounds from Hudson 

 Bay to Northern Alaska ; south in winter through the Middle States 

 to Patagonia and Chili. 



Like the other Sandpipers of the genus, this bird is only a transient 

 in Colorado, though it is far more common than the other two species 

 already mentioned. 



On the spring migration it is chiefly niet with on the plains, but in 

 the fall at the end of August and beginning of September, it resorts 

 to considerable elevations in the mountains, to feed on grasshoppers 

 and other insects, which are more abundant higher up in late siunmer. 



Morrison beUeved that this Sandpiper nested in Colorado, but he 

 was probably mistaken, though they are absent in the north for a very 

 short time. There are examples in the Aiken collection from Limon, 

 dated May 24th, and from Fountain Valley below Colorado Springs, 

 dated July 29th ; this leaves only a few days over two months for the 

 journey to the Barren Grounds and back and the duties of incubation , 



Spring records are : Lovoland, March 29th, April 19th (Cooke), 

 Horse Creek, May 17th (Aiken coll.), Grand Junction, in the fall as well 

 (Rockwell) ; autumn are : Mt. Evans, 13,000 to 14,000 feet, end of 

 August (Trippe), Tennessee Gulch, Lake co., 10,000 feet, August 20th 

 (Aiken coll.). Palmer Lake (Allen), Piedra Lake, September 12th 

 (Henshaw). 



Least Sandpiper. Pisohia minutilla. 



A.O.U. CheckUst no 242 — Colorado Records — Ridgway 73, p. 187 ; 

 Drew 85, p. 18 ; Morrison 89, p. 168 ; Cooke 97, pp. 18, 65, 200 ; 

 Warren 06, p. 19 ; Rockwell 08, p. 159 ; Felger 09, p. 289. 



Description. — Adult — Very similar in coloration and markings to 

 P. bairdi, but very much smaller, and the spots on the chest generally 



