656 THE LEAST SANDPIPER. 
an inoffensive body because he speaks (or is silent in) another tongue, and 
will not give us his name on demand ? 
Three Washington appearances are credited in my mind to this bird, but 
I cannot take shot-gun oath upon any one of them. In Yakima County during 
August numerous scattering individuals were encountered during the course 
of a long drive, as they fed by the side of irrigating ditches or overflow ponds. 
Their frightened rising occasioned a considerable exhibition of dainty drapery, 
the tail in particular being outspread like a fan, and its whitening sides sup- 
ported by the abundant white of the under tail-coverts. 
On July 21st, 1900, Professor Lynds Jones and myself saw a solitary 
bird spending the day beside an ice-fed lake, on the shoulder of Wright's 
Peak, in Chelan County. Untrained eyes saw nothing but emerald water and a 
frowning glacier, but the bird appeared satisfied with the entomological possi- 
bilities and was disturbed not a whit by the stark loneliness. 
At Blaine the same summer we found Baird Sandpipers upon the beach 
in company with Westerns (Ereunetes mauri). 
No. 263. 
LEAST SANDPIPER. 
A. O. U. No. 242. Pisobia minutilla (Vieill.). 
Synonyms.—AMERICAN StTintT. PEEP. 
Description.—Adult in summer: Upperparts brownish black, relieved by 
fuscous on wings, hind-neck, ete.; the feathers more or less bordered with grayish 
and rusty-ochraceous, especially on scapulars, where deeply indented, often nearly 
to shaft; upper tail-coverts and central feathers of tail brownish black; remaining 
tail-feathers ashy gray; sides of head, neck, and breast ashy or brownish white, 
spotted and streaked with dusky; a few dusky streaks on sides; remaining under- 
parts white. [Winter plumage: Above plain brownish gray, black, if at all, only 
in mesial streaks; spotting of breast nearly obsolete. /mmature: Similar to adult 
in summer, but without ochraceous indentations on scapular feathers; feathers of 
back with rounded ochraceous tips, scapulars with white tips on outer web, ete. ; 
breast not distinctly streaked. Length 6.00 (152.4); wing 3.60 (91.4); tail 1.70 
(43.2); bill .80 (20,3); tarsus .73 (18.5). 
. Recognition Marks.—Warbler to Sparrow size; least among Sandpipers; 
most liable to be confused with Ereunetes pusillus and E. mauri, from which it 
differs in its slightly smaller size, slender bill, more extensively washed breast, 
and rather darker coloration above. The absence of webs on the feet is, of 
course, distinctive. 
Nesting.—Does not breed in Washington. Nest: on the ground. Eggs: 
