S bore-bird Shooting 355 



settling within close range ; although in late April 

 the winter plumage was still in evidence, the 

 summer dress was beginning to be assumed. 



STILT SANDPIPER 

 {Micropalama himantopus) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage — Front and top of head, 

 black, streaked with buff, feathers tipped with rufous ; a stripe 

 from bill to eye and ear-coverts, rufous ; neck, white, streaked 

 with dusky ; back and upper parts, black, variegated with gray 

 and buff; wings, dark gray ; primaries, slate ; rump, gray ; upper 

 tail-coverts, white, the larger ones barred with dusky ; middle 

 tail feathers, light gray, the others varied longitudinally with 

 white and gray; lower parts, light buff; throat and breast, 

 streaked, the other portions closely barred with dusky. 



Adult in winter — Top of head, back, sides of neck, gray; super- 

 ciliary stripe and under parts, white, streaked with gray on neck, 

 breast, and lower tail-coverts. 



Young — Top of head, brownish, streaked with buff; neck behind, 

 gray ; back and scapulars, blackish, feathers bordered with buff; 

 wing-coverts bordered with buff and white ; upper tail-coverts, 

 white ; lower parts, white, the breast and sides suffused with 

 buff; breast, sides of the neck, and flanks, slightly streaked with 

 gray ; iris, brown ; feet, yellowish green ; bill, black. 



Measurements — Length, 8 inches; wing, 5.25 inches; culmen, 1.50 

 inches ; tarsus, 1.50 inches. 



Eggs — Three or four in number ; ground color, light drab, with large 

 round markings of dusky, most numerous about the large end ; 

 measure 1.50 by 1.05 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds on the shores of Franklin Bay and probably 

 south to Hudson Bay. In migrations tolerably common on 

 the Atlantic Coast in fall, rare in the spring ; more common in 

 the western part of the Mississippi Valley and casually west to 

 British Columbia, Wyoming, and Colorado, and east to Ber- 

 muda. Passes south in winter to the West Indies and through 

 Central America to Argentina, Chili, and Peru. 



