Shore-bird Shooting 



355 



settling within close range ; although in late April 

 the winter plumage was still in evidence, the 

 summer dress was beginning to be assumed. 



STILT SANDPIPER 

 (Micropalama himantopus) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage Front and top of head, 

 black, streaked with buff, feathers tipped with rufous ; a stripe 

 from bill to eye and ear-coverts, rufous ; neck, white, streaked 

 with dusky ; back and upper parts, black, variegated with gray 

 and buff ; wings, dark gray ; primaries, slate ; rump, gray ; upper 

 tail-coverts, white, the larger ones barred with dusky ; middle 

 tail feathers, light gray, the others varied longitudinally with 

 white and gray; lower parts, light buff; throat and breast, 

 streaked, the other portions closely barred with dusky. 



Adult in winter Top of head, back, sides of neck, gray; super- 

 ciliary stripe and under parts, white, streaked with gray on neck, 

 breast, and lower tail-coverts. 



Young Top of head, brownish, streaked with buff; neck behind, 

 gray ; back and scapulars, blackish, feathers bordered with buff; 

 wing-coverts bordered with buff and white ; upper tail-coverts, 

 white ; lower parts, white, the breast and sides suffused with 

 buff; breast, sides of the neck, and flanks, slightly streaked with 

 gray ; iris, brown ; feet, yellowish green ; bill, black. 



Measurements Length, 8 inches; wing, 5.25 inches; oilmen, 1.50 

 inches; tarsus, 1.50 inches. 



Eggs Three or four in number ; ground color, light drab, with large 

 round markings of dusky, most numerous about the large end ; 

 measure 1.50 by 1.05 inches. 



Habitat Breeds on the shores of Franklin Bay and probably 

 south to Hudson Bay. In migrations tolerably common on 

 the Atlantic Coast in fall, rare in the spring; more common in 

 the western part of the Mississippi Valley and casually west to 

 British Columbia, Wyoming, and Colorado, and east to Ber- 

 muda. Passes south in winter to the West Indies and through 

 Central America to Argentina, Chili, and Peru. 



