﻿oio 
  XEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  and 
  legs 
  duskv 
  greenish, 
  or 
  ocher}^ 
  Winter: 
  Similar, 
  but 
  the 
  ocherous 
  

   buff 
  of 
  the 
  upper 
  parts 
  largely 
  replaced 
  by 
  rufous 
  and 
  whitish. 
  Young: 
  

   Similar, 
  but 
  less 
  brightly 
  marked. 
  

  

  Length 
  8-9.5 
  inches; 
  extent 
  15-18; 
  wing 
  4- 
  7 
  5-5 
  -7 
  i 
  tail 
  2.1-2.4; 
  length- 
  

   ening 
  of 
  central 
  tail 
  feathers 
  about 
  .35; 
  tarsus 
  i-i.i; 
  bill 
  1.1-1.2. 
  The 
  

   male 
  is 
  decidedly 
  the 
  larger. 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  largest 
  of 
  our 
  sandpipers 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  with 
  dusky 
  and 
  buff 
  

   streaked 
  breast 
  and 
  buffy 
  or 
  rufous 
  edgings 
  of 
  the 
  black 
  feathers. 
  Its 
  

   breast 
  is 
  also 
  more 
  heavily 
  streaked 
  and 
  its 
  central 
  tail 
  feathers 
  more 
  

   elongated 
  and 
  pointed. 
  Its 
  note 
  also 
  which 
  gives 
  it 
  the 
  name 
  of 
  Krieker 
  

   or 
  Kreeker, 
  is 
  distinctive. 
  

  

  The 
  Pectoral 
  sandpiper. 
  Grass 
  snipe, 
  or 
  Kreeker, 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  migrant 
  

   on 
  all 
  suitable 
  marshes 
  and 
  mud 
  flats 
  in 
  the 
  State. 
  It 
  is 
  more 
  often 
  found 
  

   in 
  meadows 
  and 
  flats 
  with 
  scattered 
  cover 
  than 
  our 
  other 
  sandpipers, 
  

   much 
  resembling 
  the 
  Wilson 
  snipe 
  in 
  this 
  respect. 
  Its 
  grating 
  whistle 
  

   and 
  habit 
  of 
  crouching 
  in 
  the 
  grass 
  and 
  springing 
  singly 
  with 
  zigzag 
  flight 
  

   when 
  approached, 
  also 
  remind 
  one 
  of 
  that 
  bird. 
  Its 
  flesh 
  compares 
  quite 
  

   favorabh' 
  in 
  flavor 
  w^ith 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Snipe, 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  smallest 
  of 
  our 
  

   shore 
  birds 
  which 
  I 
  could 
  consent 
  to 
  regard 
  as 
  legitimate 
  game 
  for 
  the 
  

   sportsman. 
  

  

  As 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  from 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  bird, 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  generally 
  

   distributed 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  than 
  the 
  species 
  which 
  frequent 
  the 
  bars 
  and 
  

   bare 
  shores, 
  and 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  fall 
  migrant 
  along 
  our 
  lakes 
  and 
  rivers. 
  In 
  

   the 
  spring 
  it 
  makes 
  its 
  appearance 
  froiTi 
  the 
  2 
  2d 
  of 
  March 
  to 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  

   April 
  and 
  is 
  sometimes 
  seen 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  26th 
  of 
  May. 
  In 
  the 
  fall 
  it 
  is 
  

   much 
  more 
  common, 
  arriving 
  from 
  the 
  15th 
  to 
  the 
  30th 
  of 
  July, 
  usually 
  

   commonest 
  during 
  the 
  month 
  of 
  September, 
  and 
  passes 
  southward 
  from 
  the 
  

   20th 
  of 
  October 
  to 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  November, 
  stragglers 
  sometimes 
  occurring 
  

   till 
  the 
  last 
  of 
  that 
  month. 
  It 
  winters 
  in 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  and 
  South 
  America 
  

   and 
  breeds 
  in 
  the 
  arctic 
  regions. 
  The 
  male 
  inflates 
  its 
  throat 
  and 
  breast 
  

   in 
  the 
  breeding 
  season 
  and 
  utters 
  a 
  deep, 
  resonant 
  note 
  [Nelson]. 
  

  

  