376 Tbe Water-fowl Family 



baird's sandpiper 



(Tringa bairdii) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage — Upper parts, variegated 

 with black and grayish buff, centre of the feathers black, with buff 

 borders ; on the crown and anterior portions of the back, the 

 black is in streaks ; rump and upper tail-coverts, brownish black ; 

 tail, brownish gray, middle feathers nearly black, and all edged 

 with whitish ; wing-coverts, grayish brown ; lower parts, white ; 

 sides of the head, neck, and jugulum, buff, streaked with dusky. 



Adult male and female in winter — Upper parts, grayish clay color, 

 feathers with dark central streaks, edged with whitish; rump 

 and upper tail-coverts, dusky, feathers bordered with gray ; the 

 lateral upper tail-coverts, brownish white ; under parts, brownish 

 white ; the sides of the neck, jugulum, and breast, and flanks, suf- 

 fused with buff; iris, brown ; bill, black ; legs and feet, dark slate. 



Young — Upper parts, similar, but the feathers .of the back more 

 bordered with whitish ; sides of the head, neck, jugulum, and 

 breast, pale clay color, indistinctly streaked with dusky ; other 

 lower parts, white. 



Measurements — Length, 7.25 inches ; wing, 4.75 inches ; culmen, 

 1 inch ; tarsus, 1 inch. 



Eggs — Four in number ; light drab, spotted with bright sepia-brown ; 

 measure 1 .40 by 1 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds from the Anderson River to Point Barrow, Alaska, 

 and possibly south to James Bay. Winters in southern South 

 America, most common in Chili, but occurring in Argentina and 

 Uruguay, passing through Central America in migration. In the 

 United States, common in migration from the Mississippi River 

 to the Rocky Mountains ; occurs irregularly in fall east to the At- 

 lantic Coast, from Nova Scotia to Maryland, and on the Pacific 

 occurs in Alaska, Washington, California, and Lower California, 

 and is said to be abundant in British Columbia. Recorded also 

 from England and Walfish Bay, South Africa. 



An inland variety occurring throughout the 

 interior in North America from the Mississippi 

 Valley to the Rocky Mountains and south into 



