THE BIRD BOOK 



4f&5*\ 



Spoonbill Sandpiper. 

 Semipalmated Sandpiper. 



[245.] Spoonbill Sandpiper. 



Eurynorhynchus pygmeus. 



A very rare Asiatic species, which has been 

 taken in Kotzebue Sound, Alaska. A very pecu- 

 liar bird having the end of the bill broadened 

 and flattened into a sort of spatula. Otherwise 

 very similar to the Least Sandpiper, but with 

 the breast and sides of neck ruddy in summer. 

 About 75 specimens of this rare bird are known 

 to exist. 



246. Semipalmated Sandpiper. 

 Ereunetes pusillus. 



Range. — Whole of North America, but chiefly 

 in the eastern and central parts, breeding about 

 the ponds and streams of Labrador and Hudson 

 Bay, and northward. These little Sandpipers are 

 abundant during the migrations either in marshes 

 or on beaches. They are most often found in 

 company with other species, such as the Spotted 

 and Least Sandpipers. Their appearance is veri- 

 similar to that of the Least Sandpipers, but they 

 are slightly larger and the feet are partially 

 webbed. Their eggs have a greenish buff or gray- 

 ish ground color and are 

 spotted with brownish or 

 blackish, sometimes, so 

 heavily as to completely 

 obscure the shell color. 

 Size 1.20 x .80. Data.— 

 Small island near Okak, 

 Labrador, July 3, 1895. 2 

 eggs. Nest a hollow at the 

 foot of a tuft of grass, 

 lined with a few bits of grass and small leaves. 

 Eggs unmistakable in this dark type. 



Grayish. 



150 



