92 



duced in colour. Winter birds light grey above, white below, with only faint suggestions 

 of above coloration. 



Distinctions. Bill very slender and awl-shaped, rather like Wilson's Phalarope but 

 shorter; feet have small webs and scalloped flaps, like Red Phalarope. 



Field Marks. General colour and fine needle-like bill. Smallest of the Phalaropes 

 of eastern Canada. 



Distribution. Similar to the preceding. 



224. Wilson's Phalarope. FR. LE PHALAROPE DE WILSON. Steganopus tricolor. 

 L, 8 75. Beautifully coloured bird. Adult female has stripes of sharply contrasting colour 

 arranged on head and neck. Crown of pearl-grey shading to white on hind neck and to 

 grey again on shoulders. Black line through eye and down side of neck, changing to rich, 

 chestnut-red which continues along side of back. Throat, white blending into delicate 

 vinaceous on neck and breast to white again on lower parts. Male greyish-brown above 

 and white below, with suggestion of the females' brighter coloration. 



Distinctions. Bill very long, 1 25 inches, slender and needle-like, an exaggeration of 

 the last species. Toes not webbed but furnished with narrow, even edges of membrane. 



Field Marks. Colour, size, and extremely long and slender bill. 



Distribution. A mid-western and more southern species than the preceding, breeding 

 in the prairie provinces and only of casual occurrence east on lower Great Lakes. 



FAMILY RECUR VIROSTRID^E. AVOCETS AND STILTS. 



General Description. Among the largest of the Shore Birds and recognizable by their 

 strikingly contrasted colours and great length of legs and bill. This is carried to an extreme 

 in the Stilts which, however, are entirely extralimital. The Avocet has occurred accidenta- 

 ally within our borders east of the prairies. 



225. American Avocet. PH. L'AVOCETTE D'AMERIQUE. Recurvirostra americana. 

 L, 16-50. Large and most striking Shore Bird, with warm vinaceous head and neck 

 blending into white underparts; and fuscous and white in sharply contrasting masses on 

 the back. 



Distinctions. Very long, slender, tapering bill with decided upward curve in its outer 

 half. This is always distinctive. 



Nesting. A slight depression in the ground near water. 



Distribution. A mid-western bird of the interior, breeding in the prairie provinces 

 and only of accidental occurrence east of Manitoba. 



This species is included only because of the occurrence of a few in- 

 dividual specimens east of the prairie provinces. 



FAMILY SCOLOPACIDJB. SNIPE-LIKE BIRDS. TIP-UPS, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



General Description. Small to medium Shore Birds, the Curlew being the largest 

 species. Feet never entirely webbed nor toes furnished with web-flaps or web-margins. 

 Some species have small webs between the base of the toes, giving rise to the term "semi- 

 palmated" or half-webbed. All but one species, the Sanderling, page 97, have four toes. 

 The bills are long, slender, and tapering; usually straight (Figures 21, 22, p. 21) ; but 

 sometimes down-curved; occasionally, as in the Godwits, page 98, very slightly up- 

 curved; rather flexible and usually slightly enlarged and sensitive at the tip. 



Distinctions. Obvious Shore Birds, usually recognized by the above popular names. 

 Bill does not taper to fine sharp point, like that of the previous families, and has not the 

 soft base and horny tip of the Plover, but is soft and rather flexible throughout its length in 

 contrast to the horny bills of the Turnstones and the Oyster-catchers. 



Nesting. All except one species, the Solitary Sandpiper, page 99, nest on the ground, 

 in slight hollows lined sparsely with the waste vegetable matter adjoining. 



Distribution. Greater number nest in the far north, though a few species are found 

 south of the United States border. They migrate down our coasts or through the interior 

 according to species and distribution. Some of them have most interesting migration 

 routes. 



Among these birds are the Woodcock and Snipes of the wet woods and 

 marshes; the Tip-ups, Teeters, and Sandpipers we see along the shores and 

 streams, and the Curlews of the uplands. These species formed the great 



