SHORE BIRDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 



49 



SUBGENUS PELIDNA Cuv. 

 TRINQA ALPINA PACIFICA (Coues). 

 Red-backed Sandpiper. 



Adult in summer : Bill slightly bent down near the tip ; the feathers 

 on the top of the head and back, bright rufous brown, heavily blotched 

 with black on the central part of each feather ; throat, whitish ; breast 

 streaked with black; belly, black on the upper part; lower belly and 

 crissuvn, white; bill, black. 



Adult in winter : Upper parts, gray, slightly mottled ; throat, 

 white ; breast, gray, the shafts of the feathers dark brown ; belly and under tail coverts, pure 

 white; a faint, dull white superciliary line. 



Length. 8; wing, 4.75; tarsus, 1.10; bill, 1.65. 



The Red-hacked Sandpiper, American Dunlin, or Leadhack, as it is some- 

 times called, ranges throughout North America from the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, breeding far northward. It is common on the coasts during migra- 

 tions, and is naturally tame and unsuspicious. It frequents both beaches and 



Tringa 



i>:ifitica. 



.Summer. Winter. 



marshes, and is usually observed in flocks. It has been found breeding along 

 the shores of Behring Sea and on Melville Peninsula. The eggs are usually 

 four, bluish white or buffy white, marked with chocolate brown, mostly at the 

 larger end. They measure about 1.40 x 1. The peculiar decurved bill will 

 always distinguish this species. 



The European Dunlin, T ring a alpina (Linn.), which is very closely allied 

 to the American form, is claimed to occur in Eastern Xorth America. It 

 differs chiefly in being somewhat paler in coloration, and averages slightly 

 smaller, but these differences are apparently by no means constant. 



