﻿BIRDS 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  315 
  

  

  This 
  palearctic 
  subspecies 
  is 
  of 
  accidental 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Greenland, 
  

   Hudson 
  bay, 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C, 
  and 
  Long 
  Island. 
  The 
  single 
  specimen 
  

   from 
  this 
  State 
  was 
  taken 
  on 
  Shinnecock 
  bay, 
  L. 
  1., 
  September 
  15, 
  1892, 
  

   and 
  identified 
  by 
  Mr 
  F. 
  M. 
  Chapman 
  [see 
  Young, 
  Auk, 
  10:78]. 
  

  

  Pelidna 
  alpina 
  sakhalina 
  (Vieillot) 
  

   Red-backed 
  Sandpiper 
  

  

  Plates 
  3St 
  34 
  

  

  Pelidna 
  pacifica 
  Coues. 
  Acad. 
  Nat. 
  Sci. 
  Phila. 
  Proc. 
  1861. 
  p. 
  189 
  

   Tringa 
  cincHis 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  240, 
  fig. 
  192 
  

   T 
  r 
  i 
  n 
  g 
  a 
  alpina 
  pacifica 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  152 
  

  

  Description. 
  Bill 
  slightly 
  decurved 
  toward 
  the 
  end, 
  depressed, 
  with 
  

   slightly 
  widened 
  and 
  sensitive 
  tip; 
  tarsus 
  longer 
  than 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw. 
  

   Summer: 
  Above, 
  bright 
  rusty 
  or 
  tawny, 
  streaked 
  or 
  spotted 
  with 
  blackish; 
  

   belly 
  covered 
  with 
  a 
  large 
  patch 
  of 
  black, 
  remainder 
  of 
  under 
  parts 
  white 
  or 
  

   grayish 
  white, 
  slightly 
  marked 
  on 
  the 
  breast 
  and 
  sides 
  with 
  dusky; 
  tail 
  

   and 
  wings 
  ashy 
  gray 
  ; 
  primaries 
  dusky 
  with 
  light 
  shafts 
  ; 
  greater 
  wing 
  coverts 
  

   tipped 
  with 
  white; 
  bill 
  and 
  feet 
  blackish. 
  Winter: 
  Plain 
  brownish 
  gray 
  

   above 
  and 
  white 
  below 
  varied 
  on 
  the 
  breast 
  and 
  sides 
  with 
  grayish. 
  Young: 
  

   Similar, 
  but 
  edged 
  with 
  rusty 
  above, 
  and 
  streaked 
  with 
  dusky 
  below. 
  

  

  Length 
  8-9.25 
  inches; 
  wing 
  4.5-5; 
  tail 
  2-2.35; 
  bill 
  i. 
  5-1. 
  75; 
  tarsus 
  

   and 
  middle 
  toe 
  2. 
  

  

  Distribution 
  and 
  migration. 
  This 
  subspecies 
  breeds 
  in 
  arctic 
  America 
  

   and 
  winters 
  from 
  the 
  gulf 
  coast 
  to 
  South 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  migrant 
  

   on 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes, 
  beaches 
  and 
  mud 
  fiats 
  of 
  our 
  coast, 
  but 
  is 
  much 
  more 
  

   common 
  in 
  the 
  fall. 
  It 
  arrives 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  from 
  the 
  ist 
  to 
  the 
  15th 
  of 
  

   April, 
  and 
  departs 
  for 
  the 
  north 
  from 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  May 
  to 
  the 
  6th 
  of 
  June. 
  

   In 
  the 
  fall 
  it 
  arrives 
  much 
  later 
  than 
  our 
  other 
  common 
  shore 
  birds, 
  usually 
  

   appearing 
  from 
  the 
  ist 
  to 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  September, 
  is 
  common 
  during 
  the 
  first 
  

   two 
  weeks 
  of 
  October, 
  and 
  usually 
  departs 
  for 
  the 
  south 
  from 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  

   October 
  to 
  the 
  15th 
  of 
  November, 
  but 
  is 
  sometimes 
  observed 
  on 
  the 
  tide- 
  

   washed 
  flats 
  throughout 
  the 
  winter. 
  In 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  

   common 
  in 
  the 
  fall 
  along 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes 
  and 
  the 
  marshes 
  of 
  the 
  central 
  

   lake 
  country, 
  appearing 
  from 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  September 
  to 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  October, 
  

   sometimes 
  arriving 
  in 
  great 
  flocks 
  with 
  the 
  first 
  cold 
  weather 
  in 
  October, 
  

   and 
  is 
  often 
  taken 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  November. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  it 
  is 
  

   a 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  western 
  New 
  York, 
  but 
  is 
  sometimes 
  observed 
  between 
  April 
  

   20th 
  and 
  May 
  25th. 
  

  

  