Snipe, Sandpipers, etc. 



minded happiness not many paces from the entrance to the grassy 

 tunnel. None of the willets in that well populated marsh were 

 ever caught in the act of swimming, though the partial webbing 

 of their feet indicates that they must be able to swim well when 

 necessary. A western representative of these birds, formerly con- 

 founded with them, nests west of the Mississippi, and Mr. Will- 

 iam Brewster discovered that it is a slightly larger bird, with a 

 more slender, long bill, of paler coloration, and with less distinct 

 bars and other marks. 



Bartramian Sandpiper 



(Bartramia longicauda) 



Called also: UPLAND, or FIELD, or GRASS, or HIGHLAND 

 PLOVER; BARTRAM'S TATTLER; PRAIRIE PIGEON; 

 PRAIRIE SNIPE; QUAILY 



Length — 1 1.50 to 12.75 inches; usually just a foot long. 



Male and Female — Upper parts blackish varied with buff, brown, 

 and gray ; the head and neck black streaked with buff, and 

 a buff stripe through the eye; the back and the wing coverts 

 dusky barred with buff, the lighter color prevailing bn the 

 nape and wings; outer primary olive brown barred with 

 white, the others barred with black ; lower back, rump, and 

 central tail coverts brownish black; tail feathers brownish 

 gray, the outer ones varying from orange brown to buff or 

 white, all more or less barred with black, with a broad black 

 band across the end, and white tips of increasing breadth. 

 Under parts white, washed with buff on breast and sides, 

 which are streaked or barred with black. Bill comparatively 

 short, yellow, with black ridge and tip ; feet dull yellow. 



Range — North America, chiefly east of Rocky mountains and 

 north to Nova Scotia and Alaska; nesting nearly throughout 

 its North American range; wintering southward so far as 

 Brazil and Peru. 



Season — Summer resident or migrant; April, July, August, Sep- 

 tember. 



It is in high, dry, grassy meadows, among the stubble in old 

 pastures, in rustling corn fields and on the open plains, and not 

 always near salt water, that the sportsman looks for this so called 

 wader, more precious in his sight than any other small game bird 



229 • 



