242 



PR^COCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL^. 



fi. Americana. THE AMERICAN RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 



Tringa nlpina, WiLS. Am. Oni. VII. 1813, 25, pi. 56, fig. 2 (ncc Linn. ) — Sw. & Rich. F. B. A. II. 



1831, 383. — NuTT. Man. II. 1S34, 106. — AuD. Orn. Biog. III. 1835, 580, pi. 290; Synop. 



1839, 234 ; B. Am. V. 1842, 266. 

 Ti-biga alpina, vai'. americana, Cas.s. in Bainl's B. N. Am. 1858, 719. — Baihd, Cat. N. Am. B. 



1859, no. 530.— CouES, Key, 1872, 256 ; Check List, 1873, 424 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 489. 

 Trmga variahilis, Sabine, Suppl. Parry's First Voy. p. cc. 

 " Tringa cindas," WiLs. Am. Orn. VII. 1813, 39, pi. 57, fig. 3 (nee Linn.). 

 Pelidna imcifica, CouES, Pr. Ac. Nat. Sci. Pliilaii. 1861, 189 (in text). 

 Pclidna alpina americana, RiDOW. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 1881, 200 ; Noni. N. Am. B. 1881, no. 



539a. — CoUE.s, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 624. 



Hab. 01' true alpina, the Palfearctic Region, accidental iu North America (Hudson's Bay : 

 Blakiston, " II)is," 1863, 132). Of americana, North America iu general, breeding far northward, 

 and straggling to eastern coast of Asia. 



Sp. Char. (P. americaiui). Adult in summer : Crown, back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail- 

 covert.<!, light rufous, the crown streaked, otlier parts spotted, with black ; wing-coverts brownish 

 gray, the greater Ijniadly tipped with white. Head (e.xcept crown), neck, jugulum, and breast, 

 grayish white, streaked with dusky ; abdomen black ; sides, flanks, anal region, crissum, and lining 



of the wing, pure white, the sides, flanks, and crissum sparsely streaked. Adult and young in win- 

 ter : Above, entirely plain a.sli-gray, sometimes with very indistinct dusky shaft-streaks ; indistinct 

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

 the sides, flanks, and crissum sometimes sparsely streaked. Younfi : Back 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 middle wing-coverts bonlered with buff ; rump jdain brownish 

 slate ; upper tail-coverts darker, tipped with rusty ; crown light rusty, streaked with lihick. Head 

 and neck (except crown and throat) dull dingy buff, indistinctly streaked with dusky ; remaining 

 lower parts, including throat, white, the breast and belly with numerous irregularly cordate spots 

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

 brown" (Audubon). 



Total length, about 8.50 inches ; wing, 4.60-4.9-5 ; eulmen, I.40-I.75; tarsus, 1.00-1.15 ; mid- 

 dle toe, .70-80. 



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

 the extent and continuity of the black abdominal area, the distinctness of the black markings 

 above, and tlie depth of the rufous tint ; not infrenuently the latter is mixe<l with grayish. In 

 the winter plumage, some examples have the sides and crissum narrowly streaked, while iu others 

 these parts are immaculate. 



American specimens dift'er constantly, though slightly, Irom European ones in their larger size 

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

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

 than iu American examples ; the breast is also much more heavily streaked. In the winter plu- 



