BIRDS OF NEW YORK 327 



with dusky; legs dull greenish; bill blackish, lighter at the base. Winter: 

 Similar but grayer above and less distinctly streaked with dusky on the 

 foreneck. Young: Similar but with thicker speckles of dull buflf above 

 and the head more uniform grayish. 



Length 7.5-9 inches; extent 15. 5-1 7; wing 4.75-5.4; tail 2.25; tarsus 

 1. 2-1. 3; middle toe and claw 1.12-1.22; bill 1.12-1.25. 



Range and migration. The Solitary sandpiper is a nearctic species 

 representing the Green sandpiper (Helodromas ochropus) of 

 the palearctic region. It breeds from the northern United States well into 

 or through boreal America, and winters on the gtilf coast and in tropical 

 America. It is a fairly common migrant in all parts of New York State, 

 being more generally distributed than any species of this order, with the 

 exception of the Spotted sandpiper and Woodcock. On Long Island it 

 appears between the 5 th and 15 th of May and passes northward from the 

 15th to the 28th of that month, returns from the 7th to the 20th of July 

 and departs for the south from the 25th of September to the 14th of October. 

 In western New York it arrives from April 25th to May 8th, passes north- 

 ward from the i8th to the 30th of May, returns from the 12th to the 30th 

 of July, and departs for the south from September 20th to October 12th. 

 In northern New York this Sandpiper is supposed to be a summer resident 

 and I have no doubt its nest will be found eventually in the Adirondack 

 country. As yet, however, it is entered as a summer resident for northern 

 New York on rather slender evidence. In Dr Merriam's Adirondack Notes, 

 I have found no record of this species between May 30th and August loth. 

 Mr Pennock who has made several trips to the Adirondacks has no record 

 between May 25th and August 6th. My own party, which spent the early 

 summer of 1905 in the higher Adirondacks, failed to establish its presence 

 beyond a doubt, although Mr Achilles was confident that he saw one speci- 

 men near Clear Pond on July 6th. No member of this order is more 

 mysterious in its breeding habits, and many doubt all the records which 

 have been accredited to the northern United States. 



Haunts and habits. The Solitary sandpiper is even less gregarious than 

 the Spotted sandpiper although five or six individuals are sometimes seen 

 scattered about a swampy pool, or springy bog in the woods. Many a 



