TRINGA PUSILLA. in- 



CEXirs V. TKIXGA. THE SANDPIPKIW. 



(Jen. C'[| Bill, usua//i/ slinrt, twice as loncj as head , straiyhl or but lillk curved. Coracoids, exceeding in lenyth the 

 hciyhl of keel Outer marginal indentations, deeper than inner. 



The legs are variable in lecgtli but are never very long. The stouiaoh i.s flat or cuboid in f<iriii, quite mu-cular, and 

 lined with a hard, rugo.sc membrane. Proventriculus, moderate. Intestines, large and short, with the cncca quite long. 

 Sterno-trnchealis, not stout, and there is a slight hronehialis, but no other laryngeal muscles. Tyinpanifinn nieiiibrano, 

 present, but there is no os transversale. Sexes, quite similar. There are ten species within our limits. 



TRINGA PUSILLA. 



Semipalmated Sandpiper. 



Tringapusilla Linn., Syst., Xat., 1; 17fiG, 252. 



DESCKIPTION. 

 Sp. Cn. Form, slender. Size, small. Tail, doubly emarginate. Tongue, rather fleshy and wide at ba.se, narrowing 

 toward tip which is horny and pointed. Bill, stout and widened at tip. Toes, provided witli a liasal membrane. Outer 

 marginal indentations, twice as deep a.s inner. 



Color. Adult. Above, ashy-gray, each feather having a dark-brown center. Wings, upper tail coverts, and two 

 .central tail feathers, dark-brown, with the remainder of latter, ashy. Line from bill over eye and entire undei- parts, white, 

 i-atlier finely streaked on .-.ides of head, on neck, across breast, and on sides with dark-brown. 



Vouni/. More uniformly ashy above, with a slight tinge of reddish to the edges of the feathers, and lacl;s, in a sireat 

 measure, th<! markings below. i'iU and feet, black, iris, brown, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS.- 

 Readily known l)y the small size, black legs, stout bill, and membrane between toes. Distributed in summer, from Lab- 

 rador, northward; wintering from the Canilinas, .southward. 



DLMENSIONS. 

 .\vri-agc measurements of specimens from Eastern America. Length, B'T.'J; stretch, ITO'i; wing. 3'7J: tail, 1-41; hill 

 ■92; tarsus, -79. Longest specimen, 6'86; greatest e.vtent of wing, 12'75; longest wing, 4' 15: tail, I'HO; bill, 1-24; tarsus, -98. 

 Shortest .specimen, 5 60; smallest e.'itent of wing, 11 14, shortest wing, 3-3^1; tail, lO'S: hill, •CD; tarsus, -60. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND ECCS. 

 £,'/!/•'■ placed on the gnmnd in a depressiim of the soil, on a little grass. They are from two to four in number decid- 

 edly pyriform in shape, varying from greenish t)yellowi<h-ash in color, spotted, blotched, and dotted irregularly and thick- 

 ly, with brown uf varying shades. Dimensions from '80 .v 1'20 to -85 .k r25. 



HABITS. 

 Thf- St'iiiiiialiuated Sanil[)ipers, or Blark-leggeil Peeps as (hoy are known to sports- 

 men, jirrive iVoui the North, among the first of the southward flying shore birds, .some mak- 

 ing tlieir appearance as early as the first week in July. They come slowly at first but soon 

 (he flofks increase in size, until every creek, river inoudi, and b;iy, along the coast, is 

 swarming with them, while they are often found in the in(erior, and I once shot several that 

 were feeding around a small pool, left by the rain, at W.-it.sontown, Pennsvlvania. Al- 

 though this species occurs on the marshes, they have a predilec(ion for beaches which bor- 

 der on rivers or the open sea, where tiiey may be seen with the larger wading birds, and 

 ofr.eu ac(-ompaiiy them in (heir flights. These birds are very abundant in (he South and I 

 have freiiuently observed flocks of this and the succeeding species on luditin Kiver, Flori- 

 il:!, which numl)ered among tiie thousamls, occu[)ying a stretch of shore nearly as far as the 

 eye co;il.l reacli. They linger during their autumnal migration until the first of October, 

 but v.'hcu on their way north in spring, like ;.ll shore binls, mo\e ipiite rapidly, pas.sing a 

 given point in a few days. These Sandpipers, like many of the genus, breed in the far 

 North, placing their eggs on the grouml, usually choosing some marshv loc.ility as a breed- 

 ing ground. 



