[2.51] BIRDS OF OREGON 



August 9, 1919, at Summit Prairie, Crook County (Jewett, i93oe). In 

 1931 Jewett found it and collected specimens in Umatilla (May 16) and 

 Grant (May 2.3 and 2.4) Counties, and we now know it to be a rare summer 

 resident in the vicinity of Ukiah, Umatilla County, and Bear and Logan 

 Valleys, Grant County. 



This is one of the most interesting of the shore birds that breed within 

 the United States. The haunting, melodious whistle given as the bird 

 alights on a fence post with the wings extended far above the back is 

 one of the sounds that once heard is never forgotten. It is to be hoped 

 that the few birds remaining within the State may succeed in building 

 up an increased population, though this sort of a biological miracle is 

 not apt to occur. 



Spotted Sandpiper: 



Actitis macularia (Linnaeus) 



DESCRIPTION. "Small and slender, bill approximately the length of tarsus, or of 

 middle toe and claw. Adults in summer: entire upper parts bronzy or greenish olive, 

 faintly marked with dusky; under parts white, marked, except on middle of belly, 

 with round spots dusky; quills dusky, secondaries tipped with white, with a con- 

 spicuous white line along the middle of open wing. Adults in winter: white of under 

 parts unspotted. Young: like winter adults but finely barred on wings and back 

 with dusky and buff." (Bailey) (See Plate 41, A.*) Downy young: "The young 

 spotted sandpiper in the natal down is quite uniformly grizzled or mottled on the 

 upper parts, from crown to rump, with 'buffy brown,' 'wood brown,' grayish buff, 

 and black. The forehead is grayish buff, and the entire under parts are white; a 

 narrow black stripe extends from the bill through the eye to the nape; a black patch 

 in the center of the crown extends as an indistinct median stripe down the nape and 

 broadens to a black band along the back to the rump." (Bent) Si%e: "Length 7-8, 

 wing 4. 05-4. 60, bill .90-1.05, tarsus .90-1.05." (Bailey) Nest: On the ground, lined 

 with dry grass or weeds, usually in a tuft of grass or a small bush. Eggs: 4, rarely 

 3 or 5, buff ground color, spotted and blotched with dark brown. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from southern United States north to central Alaska, 

 Yukon, Mackenzie, Manitoba, Ungava, and Labrador. Winters from British 

 Columbia (on the coast), Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, and Virginia south into 

 South America. In Oregon: Widely distributed summer resident and breeder from 

 April to October. Uncommon winter resident of western Oregon. 



THE FAMILIAR little Spotted Sandpiper shares with the Killdeer the dis- 

 tinction of being the commonest breeding shore bird in Oregon. It 

 becomes common by late April, and has been found in summer in prac- 

 tically every county. Breeding records are exceedingly numerous. Along 

 every stream and about every lake and pond one can find it teetering 

 unsteadily up and down on a rock or jerking about nervously as it hunts 

 for food along the shores. Egg dates extend from May i to July 2.1, and 

 by July the sight of the prettily marked glossy youngsters following the 

 parents about is very common (Plate 41, A). The species remains num- 

 erous until September, after which it diminishes rapidly. It winters in 



