THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 653 



No. 261. 



PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 



A. O. U. No. 239. Pisobia maculata (\'ieill.). 



Synonyms.— Grass Sxipk. Krii;kek. Jack SxipE. 



Description. — Adult: Above, ground-color, blacUish, everywhere heavily 

 margined, and thus finely streaked, with ochraceous-buff, ochraceous, or rusty, 

 and with some grayish or whitish edging on the larger feathers; darker on crown, 

 where streaked with rusty only : wing-quills dusky, the first primary onlv with 

 white shaft ; rump and upper tail-coverts black, delicately tipped with rustv ; tail 

 sharply pointed, the central feathers longest, — blackish centrally, brownish grav 



laterally, with ochraceous or white edging: below, sides of head and neck, fore- 

 neck and breast finel)^ sharply, and heavily streaked with dusky on a dull white 

 or buffy ground ; throat and remaining underparts white : bill and feet greenish 

 dusky. Coloring in winter perhaps more Ijlended. There seems to be no con- 

 stant difiference between summer and winter plumages, — conflicting authorities 

 to the contrary. I niniatiirr : A little brighter-colored above, with sharper mark- 

 ings and more rusty, and with considerable white edging on larger feathers of 

 back; the breast more deeply bulTy, and the streaks, if ])ossible, more numerous. 

 Length S.00-9.50 (203.2-241.3); wing 5.40 (137.2): tail 2.67 (67.8); bill 1.17 

 (29.7) : tarsus i.io (27.9), 



Recognition Marks. — Chewink size, but appearing larger ; fine streaking 

 of fore-neck and breast on heavy ground, contrasting with pure white of throat 

 antl lielly, distinctive for size. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on the ground. Eggs: 4, 

 drab, sometimes with a greenish shade, spotted and blotched with reddish brown. 

 Av. size, 1.43x1.04 ( 36.8 .X 26.4 ). Season: ]ime. 



General Range. — The whole of North .'\merica and the \\'est Indies, and 

 the greater part of South America. Breeds in the .Arctic regions. Of frequent 

 occurrence in Europe. 



Range in Washington. — Xot common migrant on Puget Sound: — has not 

 been reported from East-side. 



Authorities. — Tringa maculata X'ieill., Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv. 1858, 

 p. 721. C&rS. 11. E. 



Specimens.— (IT. of W.) Prov. P". B. 



"CASL'AL chu-ing migrations" is about as iiiucli as we can allow fen- this 

 interesting species, which is so abundant East. It rareix- occtirs alongshore and 

 then only as a single individual, over-persuaded by a flock of beach-loving 

 companions with wliom it has cast a migrant's lot. Its normal range com- 

 prises flooded meadows, u])land marshes, and the borders of pools. Flocks are 

 sometimes seen in spring, but more records are occasioned by }-oung birds trying 

 to improve upon the established migration route of their elders, a course which 

 seems to ])ass from Alaska eastward, and thence down the Mississippi \^alley. 



