li i 



'f 



« 



242 



PR.ECOCIAL GRALLATOUES — LlMICOLvE. 



/3. Americana. THE AMERICAN RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 



Tringa alpina, WiLs. Am. Oni. VII. 181;!, 'i:,, pi. .')0, fij,'. 2 (ik'c Lisn.) — Sw. & H'^H. F. B. A. II. 



1831, 383. — NriT. Miiii. II. 1834, 100. — Aid. Orn. liiog. III. 1835, 680, i>l. 2U0 ; Syii(.|.. 



1839, 234 ; B. Am. V. 1842, -Jtiti. 

 2'riinja a/jiina, viir. (imtrioiiia, (.'ass. in liiiiril's 15. N. Am. 18'i8, 711». — Haikd, Cut. N. Am. IS. 



1859, 110. 53(1. — l'.irK.s, Koy, 1^72, 2.-.ti : I'lick List, 187:!, 424 ; lUid.s N. W. 1874, 489. 

 Tringa vttriithilis, Saiiink, .Suiijil. I'lirry's First Voy. p. cc. 

 " Tringa cincliis," \Vii,.s. Am. din. VII. 1813, 39, \>\. 57, li>,'. 3 (iicc Linn.). 

 J'r/iilmi jmeifca, (.'ofKs, I'l. Ac Nut. Sii. I'liilail. ISOl, 189 (in text). 

 Pdidna ulpimi nmn-icuna, liiiuav. I'lo.'. V. .S. Nat. Mhs. 1881, 201); Xom. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 



639rt.— Cocks, Clurk List, 2il id. 1882, no. t)24. 



IIab. Of true alpina, the Pula'urctic Itefjioii, lucideiitiil in North America (Hudson's Bay : 

 Blaklston, " lliis," 18(53, 132). Of amcriama, North America in general, breeding fur northwaiil, 

 and straggling to eastern coast of Asia. 



Sp. Char. {P. americana). Adult in sumvur: Crown, back, scapulars, runip, and upper tail- 

 coverts, light rufou.'*, the crown streaked, other parts spotted, with Itlack ; wing-coverts brownisli 

 gray, the greater broadly tipi)ed witli white. Head (excejit crown), neck, jugulum, and breast, 

 grayish white, streaked with dusky ; abdomui black ; sides, Hanks, anal region, crissum, and linin,' 



of the wing, pure white, the sides, flanks, and crissum sparsely stn-aked. Aibdt and young in %cin- 

 ler: Above, entirely plain ash-gray, sometimes with very imlistinct dusky shaft-.streaks ; indistinct 

 superciliary stripe and lower parts white, the neck and jugulum indistinctly streaked with grayish, 

 the sides. Hanks, and crissum sometimes sparsely streaked. Yininij : Hack and .scapulars black, the 

 feathers broadly bordered with rusty ochraceous, this becoming paler, or even white, on the ends 

 of .some of the feathers ; lesser and middh- wing-coverts liordeivd with bulf ; rum]> jdain brownisli 

 slate ; upper tail-coverts darker, tip|ieil willi rusty ; crown light rusty, streaked with black. Head 

 and neck (except crown and throat) dull dingy bufl', indistinctly streaked with dusky ; remainin.; 

 lower parts, including throat, white, the breast and belly with nuiiKnxis irreguhirly cordate sjinis 

 of black, the flanks, crissum, and lining of the wing immaculate. " Bill anil feet black; iris daik 

 brown" (Audubox). 



Total length, about 8.50 inches ; wing, 4.(10-4.0.') ; culmen, 1.4(»-1.75; tarsus, 1,00-1.15; mid- 

 dle toe, .70-.8(). 



There is a considerable amount of individual variation in this species, especially noticeable in 

 the extent and continuity of the black alidominal aiva, the distinctness of the black markings 

 above, and the depth of the rufous tint ; not inlVe(|uently tlie latter is mixed with grayish. In 

 the winter plumage, some examples have the sides and crissum narrowly stmiked, while in others 

 these parts are immaculate. 



American specimens differ constantly, though slightly, from European tmes in their larger si/c 

 and, in the summer plumage, lighter colors. In three adults of the European bird in summer plu 

 mnge, the black largely predominates on the dorsal surface, while the ochraceous is much less rusty 

 than in American e.xamples ; the breast is also much more heavily streaked. In the winter pin- 



