Sbore-bird Shooting 391 



WESTERN SANDPIPER 

 (Ereunetes occidentalis) 



Adult male and female in breeding plumage — Very similar to E. 

 pusillus, but with top of head and upper parts more marked 

 with brown ; the cinnamon along the sides of the crown is some- 

 times nearly uniform ; a white superciliary stripe, bordered below 

 by a stripe of light rufous from the bill, beneath the eyes, to the 

 ear-coverts ; remainder of the head, white, streaked, except on 

 the throat, with dusky ; lower parts, pure white ; jugulum and 

 breast, thickly marked with streaks of dusky ; iris, brown ; bill, 

 feet, and legs, black. 



Adult in winter, and young — Not distinguishable in winter from 

 E. pusillus. In these plumages distinction can only be made 

 from the greater length of bill. 



Downy young — Similar to E. pusillus, but with rusty prevailing on 

 upper parts. 



Measurements — Length, 6.75 inches; wing, 3.75 inches; oilmen 

 of male, .85 to .95 inch, of female, 1 to 1. 15 inches (Ridge- 

 way) ; tarsus, .90 inch. 



Eggs — Similar in color and measurements to E. pusillus. 



Habitat — Breeds at the mouth of the Yukon, Alaska, along the 

 coast to Kotzebue Sound, and is said to be an abundant resident 

 in British Columbia. Winters on the Atlantic Coast from North 

 Carolina to Florida, probably in the West Indies, and occurs in 

 Mexico, Central America, and Venezuela to Peru. In migra- 

 tions abundant on the Pacific Coast of North America, occurring 

 on the Aleutian and Queen Charlotte islands ; tolerably common 

 in the interior east to the Rocky Mountains, and in Texas, and 

 on the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts south. 



Almost exactly similar to the semipalmated 

 sandpiper, but with slightly larger bill. This 

 bird is common along the western coast and also 

 in the interior. It is sometimes taken on the 

 eastern coast in company with the flocks of peep. 

 In the spring the western sandpiper is abundant 



