SCOL OP A CIDJE : TA TTL ERS. 



835 



Fio. 584. — Spotted Sandpiper, nat. size. 

 (Ad. nat. del. E. C.) 



A. macula' ria. (Lat. maculana, spotted. Figs. 584, 585.) Spotted Sandpiper. Saxd- 

 LARK. Peet-weet. Teeter-tail. Tip-up. TiLT-UP. Adult (J 9 > i" Slimmer : Abovc, 

 silken ashen-olive (quaker-color — as iu our Cuckoos) with a coppery lustre, finely varied 

 with blackish, in streaks on head and neck, elsewhere in wavy or otherwise irregular cross- 

 bars. Line over eye, and entire under parts, pure 

 white, with numerous sharj) circular black spots, 

 larger and more crowded iu the 9 than in the ^. 

 Secondaries and their coverts broadly wliite-tipped : 

 some white feathers along bend of wing ; axillaries 

 and lining of wings white, latter with an oblique 

 dusky bar. Primaries and most secondaries brown- 

 isli-black, with brown shafts and large white basal 

 s]»aces, concealed iu folded wing, conspicuous in fliglit. 

 Upper tail-coverts and middle tail-feathers like back ; lateral oues successively acquiring white 

 tips; outer with several incomj)lete white bars. Feet pinkish-white, drying yellowish. Bill 

 tlesh-color, black-tipped; sometimes much of culmen dusky; sometimes much of under man- 

 dible orange. ^: Length 7.25-7.G0 ; extent 13.00-13.50; wing 3.80-4.00; bill, tarsus, and 

 middle toe with claw, each 0.95-1.00. 9: Length 7.60-7.90; extent 13.50-14.00; wing 

 3.90-4.10. In winter: Above, less glossy, with little if any blackish variegation, chiefly on 



tlie wing-coverts ; some 

 mere dusky shaft-streaks 

 on otlier upper parts. 

 Below, white, usually en- 

 tirely free from spotting, 

 and with a slight gray cast 

 on the breast. Young : 

 Nearly as in winter adults, 

 but with some buflFy bar- 

 ring on the wing- and 

 tail-coverts ; entirely 

 white below. Downy 

 young : Below, white ; 

 above, mottled with dark 

 brown and buff; a sharp 

 black stripe from top of 

 head down middle of 

 back, and another through 

 eye. North America at 

 Fio. 585. — Spotted Sandpiper. large, extremely common 



everywliere near water, and breeding throughout the country; winters iu the Soutliern States 

 and beyond to Brazil ; casual in Europe. Nest a slight aft'air of dried grasses, on the ground, 

 often in field or orchard, but generally near water; eggs normally 4, exceptionally 2, 3. or 5, 

 pointed, creamy, huffy, or clay-colored, bh>tched with blackish and neutral tint ; about 1.30 X 

 l.(X) or rather less. These and Kildeer's etrgs are the ones oftenest found iu amateur cabinets, 

 doing duty fortho.se of most small waders; and the bird itself is the best known of its tribe, 

 under the familiar names above given, and others equally ]ucturesque, alluding to its habit 

 of balancing on its legs with a see-saw movement of the hind parts of the body. .\s often 

 as the Teetcr-tail stops runniuir. the fore ])arts are lowered a little, tlie head is drawn in, 

 the legs are slightly bent, while tlie tail b,,Iis up with a jerk anil is drawn down airain witli 

 the remilaritv of clock work — as if the tail were si)riug-hiMi:«'d. always liable to tly up. and 



