SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 251 



"They frequent the sandy beach as well as the marshy shores 

 upon the coast, but inland seem to prefer the edges of pools of water 

 upon the uplands. They move in small flocks, are very social, often 

 associating with other waders, are not as a rule shy or timid, and, when 

 startled, usually fly but a short distance, drop back, and run about 

 in an unconcerned and heedless manner, picking up the minute forms 

 of life that usually abound in such places, occasionally uttering a 

 rather sharp, piping weet, weet. Their flight is swift and well sustained' ' 

 (Goss). 



241. Pisobia bairdi (Coues}. BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. Ads. in summer. 

 Upperparts fuscous; feathers of crown and nape margined laterally with 

 pale buffy; back and scapulars tipped with pale buffy or brownish gray; 

 middle upper tail-coverts fuscous, sometimes tipped with buffy; central tail- 

 feathers fuscous, margined with whitish, outer ones pale brownish gray; 

 throat white; breast washed with buffy and lightly spotted or streaked with 

 fuscous sides and belly white. Juv. Similar, but the back, scapulars, and 

 wing-coverts with rounded white tips. (In the winter these tips are more or 

 less worn off.) L., 7'40; W., 4'90; Tar., '90; B., '85. 



Remarks. This bird most closely resembles P. fuscicollis. In any plu- 

 mage it may be known from that species by the fuscous instead of white middle 

 upper tail-coverts. In summer it differs also in the absence of rufous above, 

 the less heavily spotted throat, and the white instead of spotted sides. In 

 winter the chief distinguishing marks of the two species, aside from the dif- 

 ferently colored upper tail-coverts, are the buffy breast and generally paler 

 upperparts of bairdi. 



Range. N. and S. A. Breeds along the Arctic coast from Point Barrow 

 to n. Keewatin; winters in Chile, Argentina, and Patagonia; occurs regularly 

 in migration from the Rocky Mts. to the Miss. River, and in Cen. Am., and 

 n. S. A., and irregularly in autumn on the Pacific coast from Alaska to 

 L. Calif., and on the Atlantic coast from N. S. to N. J. ; casual in summer in 

 Guerrero, Mex. ; accidental in England and S. Africa. 



Washington, casual, one record, Sept. Long Island, rare T. V., in fall, 

 Aug. 14-Oct. 31. N. Ohio, casual T. V. SE. Minn., T. V., May 10. 



Eggs, 3-4, light, creamy buff, sometimes tinged with rusty, thickly 

 speckled and spotted with deep reddish brown or chestnut, 1'30 x "93 

 (Ridgw.). Date, Pt. Barrow, June 20. 



"In habits they are similar to the White-rumped (which they so 

 closely resemble), but are more inclined to wander from the water's 

 edge. I have flushed the birds on high prairie lands, at least a mile 

 from the water" (Goss). 



242. Pisobia minutilla (Vieill). 

 LEAST SANDPIPER. Ads. in summer. 

 Upperparts black or fuscous, edged and . 

 tipped with buffy or rufous; rump and 

 middle upper tail-coverts plain black or 

 fuscous; central tail-feathers black or 

 fuscous, outer ones ashy gray; upper 

 throat white ; neck and breast white or 

 buffy, streaked with fuscous; belly and 

 sides white. Juv. Similar, but feathers 

 of the back with rounded rufous or buffy 

 tips; breast not distinctly streaked. 



Ads. and Juv. in winter. Upperparts FIG. 80. Least Sandpiper, 



brownish gray, sometimes with more (Natural size.) 



