STILT SANDPIPER 129 



summer yellowlegs, but their sale is now prohibited, and they are too 

 small to be considered as game birds. 



Winter. — The winter home of the stilt sandpiper seems to be in 

 southern South America, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Chile, 

 but actual records substantiated by specimens are not numerous. 

 Ernest Gibson (1920) shot some "out of a flock of over 100" which 

 " might easily have been 200, so closely were they massed." They 

 " were feeding on marshy ground ; and as the flock rose at " his " ap- 

 proach, circled and passed away, the white under surfaces were quite 

 dazzling in the sunlight." This was near Cape San Antonio, Buenos 

 Aires, on December 27, 1913. 



Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) writes: 



The stilt sandpiper was encountered only in the Chaco, west of Puerto 

 Pinasco, Paraguay, though it has been said that it is common in some parts of 

 the Province of Buenos Aires in winter. At kilometer 80, on September 20, 

 3920, the first arrivals, a flock of a dozen, were recorded at the border of a 

 lagoon : as I watched they rose suddenly to whirl rapidly away to the south- 

 ward. On the following day about 20 were seen, and an adult female was 

 taken. At Kilometer 170, on September 24, a small flock passed down the 

 nearly dry channel of an alkaline stream known as the Riacho Salado, while 

 at Laguna Wall (kilometer 200) about 30 were seen September 24, and 40 on 

 the day following. The birds were found in little flocks, often mingled with 

 other waders that walked or waded through shallow water on muddy shores 

 where they probed with their bills for food. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North America, south to southern South America. The 

 stilt sandpiper is one of the rarer shore birds and but little is known 

 of its range and migrations. 



Breeding range. — North to probably northeastern Alaska (De- 

 marcation Point) ; probably Yukon (Herschel Island) ; Mackenzie 

 (Fort Anderson, Rendezvous Lake, Franklin Bay, and probably 

 Kogaryuak River); and probably Keewatin (Cape Eskimo). East 

 to probably Keewatin (Cape Eskimo) ; and probably Manitoba 

 (Fort Churchill and York Factory). South to probably Mani- 

 toba (York Factory); and Mackenzie (Artillery Lake). West to 

 Mackenzie (Artillery Lake) ; and probably Alaska (Demarcation 

 Point). Eggs have been taken only in northern Mackenzie. 



Winter range. — Imperfectly known, but probably north to Tepic 

 (Acaponeta River); Zacatecas; Tamaulipas (Matamoros) ; rarely 

 Texas (Corpus Christi) ; rarely Louisiana (State Game Preserve) ; 

 and Cuba. East probably to Cuba; and Brazil (Ilha Grande). 

 South probably to Brazil (Ilha Grande) ; Uruguay (Colonia) ; and 

 Chile. West to Chile; Bolivia (Falls of the Madeira); central 

 Peru (Chorillos and Yquitos) ; Ecuador (Babahoyo) ; Colombia 

 (Cienaga) ; Nicaragua (Momotombo); Guatemala (Duenas) : 



