SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPER. 



Ereunetes pusillus. 



Char. Feet with two webs extending about half-way up the toes. 

 Upper parts mottled brownish gray, tinged with rufous or buff, each fea- 

 ther with a central stripe of blackish ; rump darker ; under parts white, 

 the breast washed with rufous and marked with dusky. In winter plum- 

 age there is no trace of the rufous or buff tints. Length about 6 inches. 



Nest. Usually on the margin of a pool by the sea or an inland pond, 

 — a slight depression scantily lined with leaves and grass ; sometimes hid- 

 den in a tussock of grass. 



Egg^- 3-4 ; pale- gray or with buff, drab, or olive tint, variously 

 marked with brown; 1.20 X O.85. 



Commonly associated with other species of the same size, 

 plumage, and habits, it is not easy to ofifer any remark con- 

 cerning it which can be considered as exclusive. It is spread 

 equally over the North American continent, from the confines 

 of the Arctic circle probably to the West Indies. According 

 to Wilson, it arrives and departs with the Sanderling, and asso- 

 ciates with the Dunlin when in its autumnal dress, in this case 

 forming flocks apart from each other ; but with the Peep it is 

 sometimes so blended as to be unknown till brought to the 



