810 



SYSTEMA TIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOLM. 



5.00-5.25; tail 2.25; bill 1.50-1.70; tarsus tlie same; middle toe and claw 1.00; tibia bare 

 1.00. Young, and adults in winter : Ashy gray above, with or without traces of black and bay, 

 the feathers usually with white edging ; line over eye and under parts white, jugulum and sides 



suffused witli color of 

 ^-j, back, and streaked 



with dusky; legs usu- 

 ally pale greenish- 

 yellow. Very young- 

 birds, before acquiring 

 their first winter garb, 

 are dusky above, most 

 . of the feathers there 

 edged with pale buff 

 or whitish, the upper 

 tail-coverts almost en- 

 tirely white. The full 



breeding dress is of 



brief duration ; birds 



FiQ. .564. — stilt Sandpiper. (From Seebohm's Charadriidse.) „„„ nsuallv 'ishv and 



white from September to April, both inclusive. N. Am., generally; not observed W. of the 

 Rocky Mts. ; rare. Breeds in high latitudes ; migrates to West Indies and Central and South 

 America in winter. Nesting not peculiar; eggs 3-4, about 1.42 X 1.00, pale buff or grayish, 

 witli usual surface spots of rich dark brown and neutral tint shell-markings. 

 EKEUNE'TES. (Gr. fpevvqTr]^, ereunetes, a searcher, prober.) Semipalmated Sand- 

 pipers. Bill normally about as long as head, straight, quite stout for this family, both man- 

 dibles deeply grooved to the ex- 

 panded vascular and sensitive 

 tip. Wings long, pointed ; sec- 

 ondaries obliquely incised. Tail 

 moderate, doubly - emarginate, 

 with pointed and projecting cen- 

 tral feathers. Tarsus rather 

 longer than middle toe and claw, 

 about equal to the normal bill in 

 length. Bare portion of tibiae 

 f as long as tarsus. Toes ct)n- 

 nected by 2 broad basal webs, 

 and broadly margined. A true 

 Sandpiper, distinguished from 

 Actodromas by semipalmate 

 feet (fig. 48) ; from Micropa- 

 lama, which is similarly 

 webbed, by shortness of bill 



Pro. 5G5. — Stilt Sandpiper, in breeding dress, reduced, 

 after Swainson.) 



(From Nuttall, 



and feet. Very small; sexes alike; summer and winter plumages different. 

 E. pusil'lus. (Lat. pusillus, puerile, petty. Fig. 566.) Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

 Peep. Bill, tarsus, and middle toe wiih its claw, about equal to each other, an inch or 

 less long, but bill very variable, —0.66-0.87, averaging 0.75 <?, 0.85 9; feet semipalmate, 

 with two evident webs; length 5..50-6.50; extent about 11.75; wing 3.25-3.75; tail 

 doubly emarginate, central feathers projecting. Adult (J 9 , i" summer: Above, varie- 

 gated with black, pale bay, and ashy or white, each feather with a black field, reddish 



