STILT SANDPIPER 



233. Micropalama himantopus. 8.5 in. 



Bill slender and only moderately long. In summer, 

 the entire underparts are rusty-white, barred with black- 

 ish; ear-coverts and top of head browner; back mixed 

 brown and black. In winter, they are gray above and 

 whitish below, with the breast streaked with dusty. 

 They seem to be one of the least abundant of our shore 

 birds, single individuals being found in flocks of other 

 species, rather than in flocks of themselves. They are 

 usually more shy than the birds with which they are 

 associated, perhaps because they lack companionship of 

 their own kind. They have a musical whistle, not dis- 

 tinctive from that of many others of our small shore 

 birds. 



Nest. The three or four eggs are laid in a hollow in 

 the ground, usually in the grass back from the beach; 

 eggs grayish, blotched with various shades of brown. 



Range. Eastern North America, breeding in the Arc- 

 tic regions and migrating through the United States to 

 South America, chiefly on the Atlantic coast. 



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