THE RED-BACKED SANDPIPER 167 



white; throat and upper breast thickly speckled 

 with dusky, and an abdominal area of black, 

 varying much in size. Bill and feet black, the 

 bill somewhat down-curved at the tip. Have 

 seen birds shot in September wearing nearly 

 such a plumage as this. In the winter coat 

 much of the red has disappeared and the black 

 of the belly is also lacking. A plain, slatey- 

 gray above and pure white below, but there is 

 scarcely any bird with which to confound him. 

 Length eight or nine inches ; sail spread about 

 fifteen inches. The American variety may 

 average rather larger than his Old World 

 brother. The Dunlins are very generally known 

 by the bay gunners as ''Fall Snipes," and are 

 reasonably abundant during August and Sep- 

 tember, growing more numerous as the autumn 

 advances to reach their greatest numbers near 

 the end of the shooting season. Rather late 

 visitors and among the last to go south in the 

 fall. 



In New England these birds are rarely seen 

 away from the salt marshes of the coast and 

 unless in large flocks of their own kind they are 

 apt to be found in company with the ''grass- 



