RED-BACKED SANDPIPER 
243. Pelidna alpina sakhalina. 8 in. 
Bill slightly decurved and rather stout. Adults in 
summer, with the upper parts largely bright rusty; 
belly black; head, throat, breast and sides strongly 
streaked with black. In winter, dull brownish-gray 
above and white below, with the breast washed with 
erayish and slightly streaked with dusky. Found in 
large flocks on both the Atlantic and Pacifie coasts, dur- 
ing migrations, but rarely in the interior. Their flight 
is very rapid and performed in very compact flocks that 
act as if governed by one impulse. They are very 
active, feeding for a short time in one place, then flying 
to another. They are found most abundantly on sand 
bars and mud flats, rather than on the open beach. 
Nest.—Usually on dry, grassy knolls, a hollow in the 
earth being lined with a few dried grasses. Eggs pale 
greenish or brownish gray, spotted with blackish. (1.40 
x 1.00) ; June. 
Range.—Breeds in the Arctic regions, and winters 
from the Gulf coast and southern California, southward. 
