FAM. XXXIX. SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 247 



23. Ruff (260. Poyo«ce7Za pjt^naa;).— This Old World spe- 

 cies has occasionally been found in eastern United States. The 

 female is a large, grayish, brown-backed, shore bird, with an 

 ashy breast and white belly. The back in summer is dis- 

 tinctly barred or streaked with black. The male in summer 

 has a very peculiar and large ruff around the neck and on the 

 breast, which may be of many colors — chestnut, black, black 

 and white, white and brown, etc. 



Length, fi'-lS ; wing, 5|-8 ; tail, 2^-3; tansus, 1^-2; culmen, l-ll. 

 The smaller numbers refer to the female. It has been found in different 

 states from Maine to is'ew Jersey and west to Ohio. 



24. Bartramian Sandpiper (261. Bartrclmia longicauda). — A 

 large, shy, comparatively long-tailed, plain-and-iipland-living, 

 beautifully mottled, 

 buff and dark brown, 

 plover-like sandpiper. 

 The throat, neck, and under 

 parts are creamy-buff, the 

 sides of head and neck bright- 

 er and streaked with dark 

 brown, and the breast with 

 some arrow-headed spots of 

 the same. The tail extends 

 beyond the wings when closed, 

 and the outer primaries are 

 barred with black and w^hite. 

 Its notes have been described 

 as most "weird and mournful. 

 It is seldom found near the 



Bartramian Sandpiper 



water and, if near it, probably never wades. In habits, it is 

 much more of a plover than a sandpiper, and has received 

 many names to indicate this fact. (Upland "Plover"; Field 

 " Plover " ; Grass " Plover.") 



Length, 11-13; wing, G} (6J-7) ; tail, 3J ; tarsus, 2; culmen, IJ. 

 North America, mainly east of the Rocky Mountains, north to Nova 

 Scotia and Alaska ; breeding throughout, and wintering south of the 

 United States to Brazil. 



