STILT SANDPIPER 
233. Micropalama himantopus. 8.5 in. 
Bill slender and only moderately long. In summer, 
the entire underparts are rusty-white, barred with black- 
ish; ear-coverts and top of head browner; back mixed | 
brown and black. In winter, they are gray above and | 
whitish below, with the breast streaked with dusty. | 
They seem to be one of the least abundant of our shore | 
birds, single individuals being found in flocks of other | 
species, rather than in flocks of themselves. They are 
usually more shy than the birds with which they are | 
associated, perhaps because they lack companionship of 
their own kind. They have a musical whistle, not dis- | 
tinctive from that of many others of our small shore 
birds. 
Nest.—The three or four eggs are laid in a hollow in 
the ground, usually in the grass back from the beach; 
eggs grayish, blotched with various shades of brown. 
Range.—Eastern North America, breeding in the Arc- 
tic regions and migrating through the United States to 
South America, chiefly on the Atlantic coast. 
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