AVES CHARADRIID/E 331 



GENERAL DESCRIPTION. 



Size. Total length, about 7.4 inches. 



Wing, 5.2 inches. 



Culmen, 1.4 inches. 



Tail, 1.9 inches. 



Tarsus, 1.2 inches. 



Female birds average a little smaller in size than do the males. 



Color. Adults in the breeding season. General color deep bay or cin- 

 namon, the females not so highly colored as are the males. Adult male 

 in breeding plumage. 



Head : Crown deep cinnamon, with the dark centers to the feathers 

 showing much less that on the back. The sides of the face are bright 

 cinnamon chestnut, with the hoary tips of the winter plumage showing 

 more or less. 



Neck : Like the sides of the face but much more hoary on the back. 



Back : The general color rich cinnamon with dark centers to each 

 feather ; lower back dull ashy brownish ; the upper tail coverts white with 

 tinges of cinnamon and some blackish barring ; the rump is pure white 

 shading into the ashy of the lower back. 



Wings : Coverts cinnamon brown with whitish edges ; the primary 

 coverts darker ; the primaries dark brown with white shafts and the sec- 

 ondaries fringed with white. 



Tail : Ashy brown like the lower back and with white shafts and the 

 hoary fringing of the winter dress showing more or less. 



Lower parts : Bright vinous cinnamon back as far as the breast then 

 pure white, the sides being more or less spotted with dusky. 



In the winter plumage adult birds are dusky rufous above except on the 

 forehead ; the forehead, sides of the face and head and lower parts white. 

 The dusky feathers of the upper parts are much suffused with pale greyish 

 or hoary edging. 



Young birds of the year in winter plumage are distinguished by the 

 lack of rufous or bay tinge to the feathers of the upper parts. Otherwise 

 they resemble closely the adults of the same season of the year. 



Geographical Range. Exact breeding point in the Arctic Regions un- 

 known ; the birds winter in Africa, India and Australia. Accidental in 

 Eastern North America, Alaska and the West Indies ; also in Eastern 

 Patagonia. 



