472 BIEBS — SCOLOPACID^. 



Genus EEEDNETE3. lUiger. 



Bill, tarsus and middle toe with ita claw, about equal, but bill very variable and apt 

 to be shorter ; feet semipalmate ; tail doubly emarginate the central feathers projecting. 



Ereunetes pdsillds (L.) Cass. 



SexTiipalmated Sandi>ix^er. 



Ereunetes pdrificatus, Wheaton, Ohio Agric. Eep. for 1880, 369 ; Reprint,' 1861, 11. 



Ereunetes pusillus, Wheaton, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Esp. fjr 1874, 572 ; Re- 

 print, 1875, 12. — Langdon, Journ. Gin. Soo. Nat. Hist., i, 1878, 116 ; Reprint, 7 ; Re- 

 vised List, Journ. Cin. Soo. Nat. Hist., i, 1879, 182 ; Reprint, 16. 



Ereuntes {eiior) pusillus, Langdon, Cat, Birds of Cin., 1877, 14. 



Tringa pusillus, LlNN^us, Syst. Nat., i, 1766, 252. 

 Ereuneles petrijicatus, Illigkk, Prod., 1811, 262. 

 Ereunetes pusillus, Cassin, Birds N. Am., 1858, 724. 



Adult in summer : above variegated with black, bay and ashy or white, each feather 

 ■with a black-field, reddish edge and whitish tip ; ruuip and upper tail coverts, except 

 the lateral ones, blackish ; tail feathers ashy-gray, the central darker ; primaries dusky, 

 the shaft of the first white ; a dusky line from the bill to the eye, and a white super- 

 ciliary line ; below, pure white, usually rnfesceut on the breast, and with more or less 

 dusky speckling on the throat, breast and sides, in young birds usually wanting ; in 

 winter the upper parts mostly plain ashy-gray ; but in any plumage and under any 

 variation the species is known by its small size and seniipalmsted feet. Length, 5i-Gi' 

 inches ; wing, 4 J-3f ; tarsus, and middle toe and claw, about 1 ; bill variable from 4 to 

 li, averaging, |. 



Habitat, the whole of North and Central, and most of Sonth America. West Indies. 



Very common spring and fall migrant in May, August and Sep- 

 tember. 



The Semipalmated Sandpiper is a regular migrant in this vicinity,, 

 though more abundant in the fall than in spring. They usually appear 

 in small flocks of from eight to twenty birds, and frequent the gravelly 

 and sandy shores of streams or muddy banks of ponds. They are rather 

 more shy than the next species, which they greatly resemble, and with 

 which they are usually confounded under the common name of " Peeps." 



The Semipalmated Sandpiper breeds only in high latitudes. The 

 eggs are four, measuring about 1.22 by .83. Their ground-color is a vari- 

 able shade of drab, dotted and blotched with dark brown. 



Genus TEINGA. Linmens. 



Bill averaging about as long as the head, never twice as long ; toes uuwebbed ; hind 

 toe present ; ttail without bars. 



(Sub-genus Aclodromas — Bill, tarsus, and middle toe with claw of about equal length y 

 iihisd naked below.) 



