SNIPES, SANDPIPERS 165 



range Alaska, Barren Grounds and Arctic America ; rare on Atlantic coast 

 and not known on the Pacific coast south of British possessions. 



County Records. — Cumberland ; rare, (Brock) ; a specimen was shot at 

 Scarboro, September 9, 1875, (Brown, C. B, P. p. 27) ; one in fall of 1901, 

 (Lord). Knox; rare visitant, (Norton). Oxford ; taken near Upton, (Brew- 

 ster, B. N. 0. C. 1, p. 191). Penobscot ; I took a female on the Mount Hope 

 Road, near Bangor, at a pool of water November 1, 1881, just after a severe 

 storm, (Newell Eddy). Waldo ; one shot on Warren Island, September 20, 

 1885, (Howe, J. M. 0. S. 1900, p. 28). 



As a rare or casual fall migrant this species is rarely found 

 in scattered localities. In the Barren Grounds they are said 

 to nest in late June, laying four eggs in a mere depression in 

 the ground, lined with a little grass. The eggs are described 

 as buff or clay colored, spotted with chestnut and brown, most 

 of the markings being said to be rather fine and segregated at 

 the larger ends of the eggs. An egg is said to measure 1.30 

 X 0.93 (Ridgw.). 



242. Actodromas minutilla (Vieill.). Least Sandpiper; 

 Least Peep; Sand Oxeye; Meadow Oxeye. 



Plumage of adults in summer : above black with very broad rufous mar- 

 gins to the feathers ; rump and upper tail coverts black with white edgings 

 to the outer tail coverts; central tail feathers dark, the outer ones gray; 

 below white, somewhat buflfy on breast and streaked with dusky on lower 

 neck and chest. Plumage of winter adults: brownish gray above with 

 darkish centers to the feathers ; breast grayish with faint streaks, otherwise 

 below white. Immature plumage : breast not streaked ; feathers of back 

 with rounded light tips. 



Geog. Dist. — North and South America, breeding from Sable Island, Nova 

 Scotia, north to high latitudes; winters from the Gulf States southward 

 through South America. 



County Records. — Cumberland; transient, abundant, most numerous in 

 August but once taken as late as October 15, (Brown, C. B. P. p. 27). Han- 

 cock ; migrant, often common in late July and August, also in May and more 

 rarely in June among the islands and along the coast, (Knight). Kennebec ; 

 (Dill). Knox; summer, (Rackliff). Penobscot; rare about the streams and 

 ponds, often associated with the Semipalmated Peep, in August, (Knight), 

 Piscataquis; migrant, (Homer). Sagadahoc; common in summer, (Spin- 

 ney). Somerset; quite common migrant, (Morrell). Waldo; migrant in 

 late July, August and May, (Knight). Washington; abundant in summer, 

 (Boardman). 



