37o The Water-fowl Family 



PECTORAL SANDPIPER 1 

 (Tringa maculata) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage — Top of head and upper 

 parts, with scapulars and tertials, light clay color tinged with 

 rusty ; the feathers have brownish black centres ; wing-coverts, 

 grayish brown, edged with buff; primaries, dark brown; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts, brownish black, narrowly tipped with 

 reddish buff; central tail feathers, dusky, edged with lighter; 

 others, pale brownish gray, bordered with white ; superciliary 

 stripe, white ; cheeks, sides of neck, jugulum, and breast, pale 

 buff, streaked with dusky ; remaining lower parts, pure white. 



Adult male and female in winter — Similar to the summer plumage, 

 but the rusty tint above wanting and the black markings less 

 sharply defined. 



Young — Similar to the adult in summer, but scapulars conspicuously 

 tipped with white ; the breast more distinctly buff; iris, brown ; 

 bill, tip, brownish, base, yellowish green ; legs and feet, greenish. 



Measurements — Length, 9 inches; wing, 5 inches; culmen, 1.15 

 inches; tarsus, 1.05 inches. 



Eggs — Four in number ; greenish drab in color, spotted and blotched 

 with brown ; measure 1.50 by 1 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds on the coast of Alaska, north of the peninsula, 

 abundantly at the Yukon Delta and Point Barrow, and probably 

 east on the shores of the Arctic Ocean to the banks of the 

 Anderson River. Winters from Mexico and the West Indies, 

 south to Chili and Patagonia, but chiefly in southern South 

 America, and occurs in flocks in Argentina through all the year 



1 Cooper's Sandpiper {Tringa cooperi) . — A sandpiper shot on 

 Long Island, New York, on May 24, 1833, by William Cooper, and 

 named by Professor Baird in honor of its discoverer, has remained 

 unique. This bird is described as identical in plumage with the 

 white-rumped sandpiper, except that there is less of a reddish tinge 

 above, and the white upper tail-coverts are spotted with V-shaped 

 markings of dusky. It is, however, about the size of the knot, with 

 a length of 9.50 inches; wing, 5.80 inches; culmen, 1.25 inches; 

 tarsus, 1.20 inches. This bird is supposed to be a hybrid between 

 the pectoral sandpiper and knot. 



