DUNLIN" 221 



rarely to northern Spain and northern Italy. Replaced by on- 

 more other forms in Siberia, to which Asiatic migrants probably 

 belong. 



Winter range. — Great Britain, Madeira, the Canaries, the Medi- 

 terranean, northern and eastern Africa as far south as Zanzibar, the 

 Red Sea, and perhaps India. 



Casual records. — Accidental in North America ; Shinnecock Bay, 

 Long Island, New York, September 15, 1892; Chatham, Massachu- 

 setts, August 11, 1900. It has probably been many times overlooked. 



Egg dates.- — Orkney Islands: 50 records, May 12 to June 27: 25 

 records, May 20 to June 2. Iceland: 16 records, May 18 to June 16; 

 8 records, June 3 to 12. 



PELIDNA ALPINA SAKHALINA (Vieillot) 

 RED-BACKED SANDPIPER 



HABITS 



Although this sandpiper is certainly red-backed enough to deserve 

 the name, it seems to me that American dunlin would be a better 

 name, as it is only subspecificalty distinct from the well-known 

 European dunlin. The doubtful question as to whether a third 

 subspecies should be recognized on the Pacific coast has been referred 

 to under the preceding form. 



Sjning.—lt is a hardy bird and perhaps a lazy bird for it winters 

 farther north than most of its tribe and makes shorter migrations 

 than any of the waders that breed in Arctic regions. From its win- 

 ter range well within the United States it migrates northward from 

 Florida and the Carolinas along the Atlantic coast to the Middle 

 States, rarely to New England, through the Great Lakes region, and 

 along the west coast of Hudson Bay to its summer home on the 

 barren grounds. C. J. Pennock tells me he has seen it in Florida, 

 Wakulla County, as late as May 26; I found it very abundant and 

 in fine spring plumage on the coastal islands of South Carolina on 

 May 22 and 23; and I have seen it near Corpus Christi, Texas, as 

 late as May 29. These are all late dates, however, for the migration 

 starts in April and is generally completed in May. A single bird 

 which I saw on the coast of Louisiana on June 22, 1910, was a non- 

 breeding loiterer. A. G. Lawrence and C. G. Harrold both record 

 it in their notes as common in Manitoba from the middle to the last 

 of May (12 to 29). William Rowan, however, finds it rare in 

 Alberta. 



There is a heavy northward migration along the Pacific coast. 

 In some notes sent to me by D. E. Brown from Grays Harbor, Wash- 

 ington, he says : 



This bird, next to the western sandpiper, was by far the most abundant of 

 all the shore birds. It was noted in immense flocks the day of my arrival, 



