WATER BIRDS. l8? 



100. Red-backed Sandpiper. Pelidna alpina sakhalina (Vieill.). (243a) 



Synonyms: Black-bellied Sandpiper, Red-backed Dunlin, American Dunlin, Black- 

 heart Plover (Ontario). — -Tringa alpina, Wils., Nutt., Aud.— Tringa alpina var. americana, 

 Baird, 1859, Coues, 1872.— Tringa alpina pacifica, Coues, 1861, A. O. U. Check-list, 1895. 



A medium sized sandpiper (wing about 4f inches), known in' any 

 plumage by the rather long bill (about H inches) bent slightly downward, 

 like a curlew's, for the terminal third. 



Distribution. — North America in general, breeding far north. Eastern 

 Asia. 



This is one of the scarcely common, but regular, migrants, and apparently 

 pretty evenly distributed throughout the state. It is sometimes seen in 

 small flocks, but more often singly or in squads of 3 to 5, not infrequently 

 in flocks of other species. It was taken by F. L. Washburn at Ann Arbor, 

 May 14, 1888; P. A. Taverner found about a dozen on Sarnia Bay, May 26, 

 1901; Hubert L. Clark saw one on the shore of Long Lake, Brookfield, 

 May 24, 1904; A. W. Blain, Jr., killed one at St. Clair Flats, November 

 20, 1904; Newell A. Eddy finds it not uncommon on Saginaw Bay, and took 

 several specimens October 3, 1890, and a male October 5, 1891; Dr. Gibbs 

 records two taken at Austin's Lake, Kalamazoo county. May 25, 1878, by 

 Geo. B. Sudworth, and several seen and one killed at Humphry's Lake, 

 May 31, 1883; Purdy took one specimen at Plymouth in the spring of 1891, 

 and Swales states that it is occasionally reported at St. Clair Flats by J. 

 Claire Wood, and on St. Clair River. Major Boies says that it is frequently 

 seen on the south and east shores of Neebish Island, St. Mary's River, 

 in the fall (Bull. Mich. Orn. Club I, 1897, 20). We have three specimens 

 in the Agricultural College Museum, taken at Forestville, Sanilac county 

 by Albert Hirzel; and Norman A. Wood reports a flock of about twenty 

 at Oak Point, south shore of Saginaw Bay, August 20, 1908 (Rep. Mich. 

 Geol. and Biol. Surv., 1910, Pub. 4, Biol. Ser. 2, p. 291). 



W. A. Oldfield recorded the nesting of this bird at Port Sanilac, Sanilac 

 county, where he took a nest, three eggs and parent bird (Cook, Birds of 

 Mich., 2d ed., 59). This record has been questioned, and at first sight 

 seems very improbable, since the species usually nests in Arctic and sub- 

 Arctic regions; but when we remember how many northern waders Nelson 

 and others found nesting in northeastern Illinois, it is scarcely wise to 

 condemn Oldfield's record as untrustworthy. Unfortunately the bird 

 taken with the eggs was never examined by a recognized ornithologist, 

 and both bird and eggs were destroyed by the burning of Mr. Oldfield's 

 house, when he lost his entire collection. 



As with most other sandpipers, the eggs are laid on the ground, in an im- 

 perfectly lined nest, and are three or four in number, buffy or brownish, 

 spotted with dark brown. They average 1.43 by 1.01 inches. 



Formerly this species seems to have been more abundant in the Great 

 Lake region, and as late as May, 1899, according to Kumlien and Hollister 

 "53 individuals were killed by the discharge of a double-barreled shot-gun" 

 (Birds of Wisconsin, 1903, 47). This bird is less suspicious than many of 

 the sandpipers, and being large enough to serve as food is frequently 

 killed in considerable numbers. 



TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION. 



Wing between 4.25 and 4.75 inches, median upper tail-covcrts dark like the back, bill 

 distinctly longer than the head, gently curved downward. Adult in spring and summer: 



