268 



BIRDS OF AMERICA 



SURF-BIRD 

 Aphriza virgata (Gmclin) 



A. U. U. Number 2&2 



Other Name. — Plover-billed Turnstone. 



General Description. — Length, lO inches. Color 

 above, dark ashy-brown streaked and varied ; below, 

 dull white with dark markings ; bill stout witli rounded 

 tip : tail, slightly notched. 



Color. — Adults in Summer: Above, dark ashy- 

 brown streaked with whitish on head and neck and 

 varied with chestnut and black on back and wing- 

 coverts ; upper tail-coverts and basal half of tail, pure 

 zvliite: rest of tail, black tipped with white: primaries, 

 dusky, tipped with white ; greater coverts, white-tipped : 

 large space on secondaries, also white ; under parts, dull 

 white or ashy variegated with brownish-black marks ; 

 throat and fore-breast, narrowly streaked, these streaks 



changing on breast proper to crescentic bars ; rest of 

 under parts, sparsely spotted ; bill, black; legs, greenish- 

 yellow : iris, brown. Adults in Winter: Head, neck, 

 breast, and upper parts generally, uniform dusky-brown 

 with darker shaft lines ; no white or reddish ; wings 

 and tail, as in summer; beneath, dull white faintly 

 spotted. Young: Above, brownish-gray with white 

 edgings to feathers ; below, white streaked with dusky. 



Nest and Eggs. — Unknown. 



Distribution. — Pacific coast of North and South 

 .America ; breeding range unknown, but probably in the 

 interior of northwestern .'Maska ; winters in Chile to 

 Straits of Magellan; occurs in migration from Kobuk 

 River, Alaska, to southern South America. 



Ornithologists have been divided as to whether 

 the Surf-bird should be considered a Plover or a 

 Turnstone, and after much argument have com- 

 promised by giving it distinct generic rank. 

 Evidently the bird occurs frequently on the 

 Hawaiian and other islands in the Pacific Ocean, 



and it is known also to visit the Pacific coast of 

 the United States, but nowhere is it abundant. 

 Its breeding grounds are unknown. The bird 

 frequents the outer beaches of the sea-coasts, 

 where it permits the spray from the heavy surf 

 to dash over it ; hence the name given to it. 



RUDDY TURNSTONE 

 Arenaria interpres morinella (Linncrus) 



A. O. U. .Xumber 283a See Color Plate 3.1 



Other Names. — Turnstone ; Sea Dotterel ; Sea Quail ; 

 Sand-runner; Stone-pecker; Horsefoot Snipe; Brant- 

 bird ; Bead-bird ; Checkered Snipe ; Red-legs ; Red- 

 legged Plover; Chicken; Chicken Plover; Cliicken- 

 bird ; Calico-back; Calico-bird; Calico-jacket; Sparked- 

 back ; Streaked-back; Chuckatuck ; Creddock ; Jinny; 

 Bishop Plover. 



General Description. — Lengtli, 9 inches. Upper 

 parts chestnut, black, and white; lower parts black and 

 white ; bill witli sharp tip inclined upward ; tail slightly 

 rounded. 



Color. — Adult M.\le in Spring and Summer: 

 Forehead, cheeks, sides of head, and back of neck, 

 white with a bar of black from side of neck to below 

 eye, continuing forward and meeting its mate over base 

 of bill and enclosing a white loral patch; another black 

 streak on side of neck ; top of head, streaked with black 

 and white; lozver hind neck, back and shoulders, z'arie- 

 gatcd with black and chestnut; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts, snozi'y-zi'hitc, the latter black in center; tail, 

 white with a broad subterminal black band ; center 

 tail-feathers, white-tipped; wing-coverts and inner sec- 



ondaries, mixed black and chestnut ; greater coverts, 

 mostly white; middle secondaries, entirely zvhile be- 

 coming gradually more dusky outwardly, producing an 

 oblique white wing bar; primaries, dusky, largely white 

 at base; under parts, snoicy-white ; breast and throat, 

 jet-black, encircling a zvhitc patch; bill, black; feet, 

 oramje-red ; iris, deep brown. Adult Fem.\le in Spring 

 AND Summer: Less strongly colored; chestnut replaced 

 by plain brown, especially on wing-coverts ; darker 

 parts restricted ; black not glossy. Adults in Winter : 

 Chestnut absent, the blacks mostly replaced by browns 

 or grays, the patch on chest smaller and much broken. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : A hollow scratched in the 

 ground and lined with bits of grass or seaweed. Eggs: 

 4, greenish-gray spotted and blotched heavily with yel- 

 lowish and umber-brown. 



Distribution. — North and South America ; breeds on 

 Arctic shores from Mackenzie River east, probably 

 to Melville Peninsula, and north to Melville Island; 

 winters from central California, Texas, Louisiana, 

 and South Carolina to southern Brazil and central 

 Chile. 



