238 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



The Atlantic birds winter mainly in the United 

 States, and the Pacific birds are common in win- 

 ter only as far south as southern California. The 

 future of this species, therefore, is in our hands. 

 It can be protected or exterminated by the people 

 of the United States and Canada. In spring 

 the eastern migration passes more to the west- 



ward, and the species appears in numbers on the 

 Great Lakes, becoming rare to the northeast of 

 Massachusetts. 



The Red-backed Sandpiper feeds largely on 

 worms, crustaceans, and insects. 



Edward Howe Forbush, in Game Birds, 

 Wilii-Fuwl and Shore Birds. 



SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER 

 Ereunetes pusillus (Liintcrus) 



\. O. U. Number 246 See Color I'late 35 



Other Names. — Peep ; Little Peep ; Sand-peep ; 

 niack-legged Peep; Ox-eye: Sand Ox-eye. 



General Description. — Length, 6^ inches. Principal 

 color above, chestnut; below, white with spots on 

 breast. Tot-s, zvcbbcd at base: bill, straight and enlarged 

 at tip ; tail, double-notched. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Above, varied with 

 black, pale chestnut, ashy, and white, each feather 

 dusky centrally with a reddish edge and whitish tip ; 

 rump and upper taU-covcrts, dusky, more whitish on 

 sides ; central tail-feathers, brown, others, ashy-gray ; 

 wing-coverts and secondaries, brownish and rufous, 

 edged with lighter ; primaries, plain dusky ; a dusky 

 line from gape through and behind eye and a white line 

 above; lower parts, pure white tinged with pale rufous 

 on breast, where spotted with pale dusky ; bill, black : 

 legs, dusky green; iris, brown. Adults in Winter; 



.\bovc. plain ashy, the feathers lighter-tipped ; light ends 

 of secondaries, less conspicuous as is also the line 

 through eye ; under parts, pure white with dusky spot- 

 ting very faint ; bill, legs, and iris, as in summer. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A hollow in the ground, 

 lined with dry grass. Eggs: 3 or 4. from grayish to 

 olive, usually boldly spotted and splashed with brown 

 or chestnut, but sometimes finely dotted over entire 

 surface. 



Distribution. — North and South America ; breeds 

 from the Arctic coast of North America south to 

 mouth of Yukon and to southern Ungava ; winters 

 from Texas and South Carolina through West Indies 

 and Central America to Patagonia ; migrates mainly east 

 of the Rocky Mountains; casual in British Columbia, 

 Pribilof Islanfls, and northeastern Siberia; accidental 

 in Europe. 



Photugraph by H. K. Jol 



TURNSTONES AND SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPERS 



