DIEKCTORY TO BIRDS OF EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. 75 



gray ; beneath, white streaked with dusky, belly covered 

 with a nearly continuous patch of black. Winter, ashy- 

 gray above; white beneath with breast tinged with ashy and 

 narrowly streaked with dusky, plate 9, A. Young, differ from 

 the last in having the feathers of upper parts, especially of 

 the wings, margined with rufous; upper tail coverts, bill, 

 and feet always black. A very unsuspicious species that oc- 

 curs more often on sandy beaches than elsewhere, some- 

 times singly but more often in flocks or in company with 

 other shore birds. Call, a rather plaintive, melodious note 

 sounding something like " Purrc " ; when disturbed utters 

 a short chuckling cry ; flight, ordinary. N .A. ; breeding far 

 north ; goes south in Sep., Oct., and Nov. ; winters from the 

 Carolinas southward, occasionally remaining further north ; 

 comes north in May. Abundant on the coasts in fall; rather 

 uncommon in spring along the Atlantic coast north of the 

 Carolinas. 



2. DUNLIN, P. ATvPiNA. Differs from 1 in being smaller 

 (7.50; bill, 1.25 ) and in having less red above, the black pre- 

 dominating, but is more heavily streaked below with dusky ; 

 thus the black of the belly is not in as strong contrast with 

 the lighter parts. Northern parts of the Old World ; acci- 

 dental in Eastern N. A. ; one record for Mass. 



g. Curve-billed Sandpipers. Erolia. 



Medium sized sandpipers with long, slender, curved, 

 bills, fig. 92, long slender legs and short, nearly square tails. 



1. CURLEW SANDPIPER, E. ferruginka. 8.00; bill 

 1.50; upper tail coverts, white; lower parts, reddish chest- 

 nut; upper parts, varied with blackish and rusty. Winter 

 and young much as in f, 1, Fig. 92. 



excepting that the upper' 

 tail coverts are white. Old 

 World, occasional in east- 

 ern N. A. and Alaska; there 



are a number of N. E. re- Gr, D. g, 1. 



cords. 



