BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 87 



GENUS EREUNETES ILLIGER. 

 Ereunetes pusillus (LiNN.). 



Semipalmated Sandpiper; Peep. 



DESCRIPTION (Plate 81). 



Size small, a little larger than T. minutilla from which in any plumage it can be 

 recognized by the basal webs of front toes ; bill and legs black ; eyes brown. 



Adult in spring. Above grayish-brown, feathers more or less edged with brown, 

 ish or rusty, and tipped with whitish ; lower parts white, except jugulum which is 

 pale grayish-brown, -streaked with dusky. The old birds and young in the fall have 

 upper parts more grayish (particularly about back of neck), and less rusty ; lower 

 parts white ; jugulum (adult) very faintly streaked with dusky; jugulum (young) 

 pale buff without streaks. 



Habitat. Eastern province of North America, breeding north of the United States ; 

 south in winter to the West Indies and South America. 



Common spring- and fall migrant, similar in habits, and occurring' in 

 the same localities as the Least Sandpiper. 



GENUS CALIDEIS CUVIER. 

 Calidris arenaria (LiNN.). 



Sanderling. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Very similar in general character to the sandpipers, but hind toe is absent ; bill, 

 about as long as head, stout and straight, end somewhat thickened and expanded ; 

 toes short. 



"Adult in summer. Above, light rufous, broken by large spots of black, the feath- 

 ers mostly tipped with whitish. Head, neck, throat and jugulum pale cinnamon- 

 rufous, speckled below and streaked above with blackish. 



"Adult in winter. Above, very pale pearl-gray (the lesser wing-coverts darker 

 anteriorly), relieved only by faint darker shaft-streaks of the feathers. Throat and 

 jugulum pure white. 



"Adult in spring. Above, light grayish, with large black spots (streaks on the 

 crown), here and there mixed with rufous; jugulum speckled with dusky on a 

 white ground. 



" Young. Above, pale gray, spotted with black and whitish, the latter on tips of 

 the feathers ; jugulum immaculate white, laintly tinged with dull buff. ' Bill and 

 feet black ; iris brown ' (Aud.). Length about 7.75 to 8.00 inches" (extent about 

 15 inches). B. B. and R. N. A. Birds. 



Habitat. Nearly cosmopolitan, breeding in the Arctic and subarctic regions, mi- 

 grating, in America, south to Chili and Patagonia. 



Common spring and fall migrant at Lake Erie, where it is often seen 

 in flocks, frequently in company with the Piping- Plover ; much less 

 common in the interior of the state, where, generally, only scattered 

 birds are found, usually, about the shores of rivers, lakes and large 

 ponds. 



