2C0 



RED-BRF.A "iTF.D SANDPIFER. 



fVhistle, not unlike thut given by Peeps. They fetMl upon smull moUusks which they picfc 

 uirtl;e rocks, when they are left exposed by the f;illin,i;- tide. On one or two occasions, I 

 have seen .specimens tlying alonii" the hill sides near the ocean but it is rare to find them 

 even thus Oir iiom the waves. One or two cases are on record of their occurrence in the 

 interior but they are so decidedly maritime that such instances are quite exceptional. I 

 also find that there is a specimen in the Smithsonian Institution, which was taken on Key 

 Biscayne, Florida, but this is quite beyond their usual range. The Purple Sandpipers 

 depart northward in early spring. 



TRINGA ALPINA. 

 Red-backed Sandpiper. 



Trini/a Alpina Linn., Sy-^t., Nat., 1; 1766, 249. 



DI'SCRIPTION. 



Si". Cii. F'onn, sfender. Size, medium. Bill, slemler, l;)nger thiin head, sliglitly curved and wiilene'I at tip. Out- 

 er marginal indentations, twice as deep as inner. Tucs, witlmut basal membrane. Tongue, long, thin, and slender, narrow- 

 ing gradually to tip which is [winted. 



Color. Ai/n/i in summtr. Above, tlark-hrown, each feather, esee|itlag primaries, broadly edged with bright rufous. 

 Base of s.condnrics, edges of inner iirim-.nies. and tips of greater wing coverts, white. Tail, excepting middl»- pair of feath- 

 ers w!.i^-h a-e dnrk-bvown, ashy. Middle of bjlly, black. Remaindei- of under parts, white, finely streaked on sides of 

 head, on neck, across lireast, and on side^ with dar^i-brown. 



Ai/u/l in ivinler. Uniform yellowish-ash above, with tbefeather.sslightly mi ttlcd with dark-brown. White, beneath, 

 tinged across breast and on .-.ides with ashy, and these parts are vei-y finely streaked with dark-brown. 



Youn;/. Similar to the winter adult, but some of the feathers above are slightly edged with rufous. Bill and feet, 

 hliick, and iris, brnwn, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Ueaildy known by the long, curved bill and lilack pitch beneath, in summer; and at other seasons by theuniform ashy 

 solors as de^cribjd. Distributed in suiniuei-, throughout the Arctic Regions; wintering from Maryland, southward. 



DIMENSIONS. 



.Average ineasuremerkts of specimens from Eastern America. Length. 8':J2; stretch, 15'2.5; wing. 4-80; tail, 2 15; bill,. 

 1-35; tarsQs, I 00. Longest si)ei;imen, 8'7.'j; greatest e.ttent of wing, 15'75; longest wing, 5'00; tail, 2:10; bill, 150; tarsus, 

 I 05. Shortest specimen, 8'00; smallest extent of wing, 14'50; shortest wing, 4-75; tail, 2'0(); bill, -90; tarsus, -95. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 

 El/us, placed on the ground in a depression of tlie soil, on a little grass. Tliey are from two to four in number, decid- 

 edly pyriform in sliape, varying from greenish to yellowish-ash in color, spotted, blotched, and dotted irregularly and thick- 

 ly, with reildisli-brown of varying shades, and more sparcely with uml)tr. Dimensions f:-om '95 x I'^O to TOOs 1'35. 



HABITS. 

 When the first cold blasts come sweeping down from the North, driving- great wave.? 

 of southward ilying shore birds before them; when the houk of the Wild Geese is heard, and 

 the sand spits are whitened with Gulls, the little Red-backed Sandpipers, or Dunlins, ap- 

 {>ear. Lite ;is they are, they do not seem to be in tiny hurry but linger about the sandy 

 shores (if Massachusetts, from early October until late in November, indeed, the first .snow 

 often fiuils (hciu here. 1 ibund them very common on the eastern shore of Ches;ipe:ike Cay, 

 on the second of November, 1878. and from this point, south, as far as Indi;in River, Flor- 

 ida, they were abundant but always appeared to prefer the sandy lieaches to the mudily flats.. 

 At this season, the birds were all in gray attire but I found them in the bright summer 

 plumage at Dummett's, late in May, at which time, they were preparing to migrate north- 

 ward. Occasionally stragglers oi this and other species of shore birds which breed in the 

 (iir Nortii, will remain in ]M.;issiichusetts during summer. 



