374 The Water-fowl Family 



Measurements Length, 7 inches ; wing, 5 inches ; culmen, I inch ; 

 tarsus, i inch. 



Eggs Four in number ; pyriform in shape ; ground color, dark drab, 

 marked with patches of brown and black ; measure i .35 by .95 

 inches. 



Habitat Breeds on the coast of the Arctic Ocean, at Franklin 

 Bay, and probably to Greenland on the east, Point Barrow on 

 the west, and Hudson Bay on the south. Winters from the 

 Bahamas, West Indies, and the Gulf of Mexico, south to Pata- 

 gonia and the Falkland Islands. In Uruguay it is found in 

 flocks excepting from November 15 to January 15, in Patagonia 

 all the year, and it is said to breed on the Falkland Islands. 

 In the migrations it is most abundant in the United States 

 in the Mississippi Valley, regularly west to Colorado, and has 

 occurred in California ; on the Atlantic Coast it is tolerably com- 

 mon in fall and rare in spring, and occurs in Bermuda. Sev- 

 eral have been taken in Great Britain, and one in Franz Josef 

 Land. 



The Bonaparte's or white-rumped sandpiper 

 is common throughout the eastern United States, 

 occurring as far west as the Rocky Mountains. 

 On the Atlantic Coast they are a common migrant ; 

 abundant along the Labrador shores, reaching the 

 mainland early in August, arriving in small relays 

 and frequenting the beaches and flats in company 

 with the smaller peep. Their numbers steadily 

 increase until by the middle and toward the end 

 of the month vast flocks are seen. These birds 

 follow the receding tide, feeding on the animal- 

 culae that swarm at the water's edge. With the 

 first flow they are driven from the flats and return 

 to the higher bars. On the Magdalen Islands I 

 have seen them in countless flocks flying com- 



