556 SEMIPALMATED SANDPIPER. 



of the Spotted Sandpiper, only it h'as nothing of the teeter- 

 ing motion of that species; and its notes, tweet-eet, tweet-eet, 

 are more of a soft, subdued whistle, giving the bird a much 

 quieter and less demonstrative appearance. 



Some 6.00 long and 12.00 in extent, this species may vary 

 much in size; the black bill is an inch or more in length 

 and slightly bent; the crown and upper parts are dusky, 

 the feathers being edged with reddish and tipped with 

 white, or simply edged with grayish; rump and tail-coverts, 

 black; wings dusky, marked with white ; line over the eye, 

 tips of the lesser wing-coverts, throat and under parts, white; 

 legs and feet, dusky. Its diminutive size distinguishes it 

 readily from all our birds of its kind, except the Least 

 Sandpiper, which it greatly resembles, but from which it is 

 strongly differentiated by its half-webbed toes. This species 

 breeds from Labrador to the far north, having a slight 

 nest on the ground, after the manner of other Waders; 

 the 4 eggs, about 1.22X.84, being pale grayish or 

 greenish-drab, or olivaceous, boldly blotched or marked 

 with several shades of brown, mostly about the large end. 

 Passing through the Middle States late in April or early 

 in May, it returns from late July even till early October, 

 feeding leisurely on insects, worms and diminutive mollusks. 

 It is common to North, Central and most of South America. 

 It would seem that it winters for the most part beyond 

 our boundaries. 



As I view this little bird on the point, I naturally associ- 

 ate it with its quaint little relative, the Least Sandpiper. The 

 flight of this species, as of that of the above, is straight- 

 forward and rapid; and it also passes these middle districts 

 late in April or early in May, raising its young from the 

 rocky coasts of Labrador northward. Here, its nest is 

 found on " the moss-clad crests of the highest rocks, 



