154 



RED-BACKED SANDPIPER 

 243. Pelidna alpina sakhalina. 8 in. 



Bill slightly decurved and rather stout. Adults in 

 summer, with the upper parts largely bright rusty; 

 l>"lly black; head, throat, breast and sides strongly 

 streaked with black. In winter, dull brownish-gray 

 'bove and white below, witli the breast washed with 

 mayish and slightly streaked with dusky. Found in 

 arge flocks on both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, dur- 

 ng migrations, but rarely in the interior. Their flight 

 s very rapid and performed in very compact flocks that 

 ict as if governed by one impulse. They are very 

 tctive, feeding for a short time in one place, then flying 

 o another. They are found most abundantly on sand 

 >ars and mud flats, rather than on the open beach. 



Nest. Usually on dry, grassy knolls, a hollow in the 

 earth being lined with a few dried grasses. Eggs pale 

 greenish or brownish gray, spotted with blackish. ( 1.40 

 x 1.00) ; June. 



Range. Breeds in the Arctic regions, and winters 

 from the Gulf coast and southern California, southward. 



