SCOLOPACIDJE : SANDPIPERS. 625 



olivaceous, usually boldly spotted aud splashed with umber or chocolate brown, massed at 

 larijcr end ; sometiuies more uuitbrmly spotted in smaller pattern. 



613. E. p. oceidentalis .^ (^Lat. oce?d<;w<a&, western.) Western Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

 An aliened variety, probably untenable, ascribed to Western N. Am. 



235, ACTODRO'MAS. (Grr. dxrij, aTcte, the seashore ; dpofias, dromas, running.) Pectoral 

 Sandpipers. Spotty-throat Sandpipers. Bill about equal to head or tarsus, short, 

 straight, very slender, somewhat compressed, the tip punctulate, scarcely expanded, acute. 

 Grooves on both mandibles very deep, and extending nearly to the lip. Nostrils situated very 

 near the base of the bill. Feathers extending on the lower mandible much beyond those on 

 the upper, and half as far as those between the rami. Wings long, pointed, first primary 

 usually longest ; tertials long, slender, flowing. Tail rather long, deeply doubly-emarginate 

 (in one species cuneate), the central feathers much projecting ; upper tail-coverts moderately 

 long. Tibia bare for more than half the length of the tarsus ; the feathers very short, making 

 the exposed portion nearly as great. Tarsus equal to the middle toe and claw. Toes long^ 

 slender, very narrowly margined, entirely free at base. A group of several species, including 

 the smallest representatives of the family, agreeing in form aud also in having the jugu- 

 lum and fore-breast thickly streaked or spotted, usually also with a brownish or ashy suflFusion. 



Analysis of Species. 

 Tail graduated, with acuminate feathers. 



Jugulum ruddy brown, with very small sharp dark streaks. Upper tail-coverts and rump with black 



central field aciiminata 619 



Tail not graduated ; its feathers, except central pair, not acuminate. 



Jugulum with brownish or ashy suffusion, thickly streaked. Upper tail-coverts and rump with black 

 central field. 

 Largest ; length 9.00 ; wing 5.25. Crown much darker than hind neck, the transition abrupt. 

 Chin immaculate. Edgings of feathers on upper parts light chestnut-red, not making inden- 

 tations toward the shaft. Suffusion on jugulum very deep, the darker streaks narrow, distinct. 



Bill and feet dusky-green maculata 616 



Medium; length 7.25; wing 4 80. Crown not conspicuously darker than hind neck. Edgings of 

 feathers on upper parts light reddish-yellow, scarcely brighter on the scapulars, making inden- 

 tations toward the shaft. Suffusion on jugulum very light, the darker markings rounded, some- 

 what obsolete. Bill and feet black hairdi 615 



Smallest; a miniature of the preceding; length 5.75; wing 3.40. Edges of feathers chestnut-red, 

 usually more or less indented, their tips lighter. Bill black ; legs dusky-green . . . minutilla 614 

 Jugulum with little or no brownish or ashy suffusion. Upper tail-coverts white. 



Medium ; length 7.50 ; wing 4.80. Jugulum thickly streaked with narrow dark lines. Upper tail- 

 coverts immaculate, except the outermost. Central tail-feathers nearly black . . . honapartii 617 

 Large; length 9.50; wing 5.75. Jugulum thinly marked with oval spots or streaks. Upper tail- 

 coverts with dark arrow-heads. Central tail-feathers scarcely darker than the lateral. . cooperi 618 



614. A. minutil'la. (Lat. minutilla, very minute; dim. of minutus, small.) American Stint. 

 Wilson's Stint. Least Sandpiper. Peep. Smallest of the sandpipers ; length 5.50-6.00 ; 

 extent about 11.00 ; wing 3.25-3.50 ; tail 2.00 or less ; bill, tarsus, and middle toe with claw, about 

 0.75 i Bill black ; legs dusky greenish. Upper parts in summer with each feather blackish cen- 

 trally, edged with bright bay and tipped with ashy or white ; in winter, and in the young, simply 

 ashy. QuiUs blackish, the shaft of the first white, the secondaries and greater coverts tipped 

 with white. Tail-feathers gray with wliitish edges, the central ones blackish, usually with reddish 

 edges. Crown not conspicuously diflferent from hiud neck ; an indistinct whitish line over eye, 

 and dusky one from eye to bill. Chestnut edgings of scapulars usually scalloped. Below, 

 white ; jugulum and sides of body for some distance with ashy or brownish sufi"usion, thickly 

 spotted and streaked with dusky. This species and the last are usually confounded under the 

 common name of " sandpeeps," and look much alike; but a glance at the toes is sufficient to 

 distinguish them. N., C. and S.America and W. I., anywhere; very abundant during the 

 migrations. Breeds in high latitudes, returning to the U. S. in August. Eggs unknown. 



615. A. balr'di. (To S. F. Baird.) Baird's Sandpiper. Form and proportions typical of the 

 genus. Bill small, slender, rather shorter than the head, equal to the tarsuS; the tip scarcely 



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