364 GAME BIBVS OF CALIFORNIA 



generally darker above, shaft streaks on top of head wider, white margins 

 of feathers of back less extensive, cross bars on feathers of rump, sides and 

 flanks broader and darker; cinnamon color beneath, deeper. Folded wing 6.53 

 inches (165.8 mm.); bill along culmen 1.43 (36.4); tarsus 1.26 (32.1) (one 

 specimen); all from California. Juvenile plumage: Whole head and neck dully 

 streaked with blackish or drab, on a grayish white ground; chin and stripe 

 over eye, nearly unmarked, whitish; back grayish brown with blackish shaft- 

 streaks and narrow feather-margins of brownish black bordered by white, 

 giving a distinctly sealed appearance; rump, upper tail coverts, tail, and wings, 

 as in summer adults; breast and sides light drab with narrow shaft streaks 

 and spots of light brown; rest of under surface white. Natal plumage: "Buffi 

 to cream color, marked above with black and rufous, the black markings 

 exceeding the ground color on crown, back, and rump" (Sanford, Bishop and 

 Van Dyke, 1903, p. 358). Iris black; bill dark olive, tip dark brown; back 

 of legs and soles of feet, greenish yellow; toes black (Feilden in Nelson, 1887, 

 p. 102). 



Marks fob field identification — Medium size (slightly larger than Wilson 

 Snipe), chunky appearance, short bill (fig. 66) (not much longer than head), 

 and short legs; feeds along shore in close flocks; in spring distinguished from 

 all other shore birds of similar size except Dowitcher, by its bright reddish 

 breast, but the Dowitcher has a very much longer bill. In fall the structural 

 characters and method of feeding must be depended upon. 



Voice — A soft wdh-quoit or wMt whit, and a little honlc (MacKay, 1893, p. 27; 

 Porbush, 1912, p. 262). 



Nest — A shallow depression on grassy tundra, lined with a few dry grasses. 



Eggs — 3 (possibly 4), slightly pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.64 to 

 1.97 by 1.14 to 1.33 (in millimeters, 41.7 to 49.8 by 29.1 to 33.8), and averaging 

 (6 eggs) 1.74 by 1.21 (44.1 by 30.6); ground-color pale greenish or clay, with 

 superficial spots of yellowish to blackish brown, and deeper ones of pale 

 violet -gray; markings more numerous about larger end (Dresser, 1904, pp. 

 232-233). 



General distribution — Almost world-wide. Breeding range cireumpolar, 

 northern Ellesmere Land south to Melville Peninsula and possibly Iceland; 

 also on Taimyr Peninsula, Siberia. Winters south in America to southern 

 Patagonia, and from the Mediterranean to South Africa, India, Australia and 

 New Zealand. Casual on eastern coast of United States in winter. Occurs in 

 migration over most of the Eastern Hemisphere, on Atlantic coast of North 

 America, and, more rarely in the interior and on the Pacific coast (A. O. U. 

 Check-list, 1910, p. 112). 



Distribution in California — Rather uncommon spring and fall migrant. 

 Recorded in spring only on Alameda County shore of San Francisco Bay, 

 April 27 and 30, 1914 (adult male and female in breeding plumage in Mus. 

 Vert. Zool.), and May 10, 1896 (Grinnell, 1902a, p. 25). Fall records: Monterey, 

 August 7 and 17, 1910 (three males in Mus. Vert. Zool.; Beck, MS); Santa 

 Barbara, August 21 to September 7, 1911 (Bowles and Howell, 1912, p. 8); 

 Alamitos Bay, Los Angeles County, September 18, 1907, three taken from flock 

 of 30, and October 10, 1907, one taken (Willett, 1912a, p. 36) ; Anaheim Land- 

 ing, Orange County, October 3, 1909, one specimen (Lamb, 1909, p. 208); 

 Pacific Beach, San Diego County, September 10 and 16, 1904, two taken from 

 several (Bishop, 1905, p. 141) ; and San Diego, October 7 and 9, 1903, three 

 specimens (Dwight, 1904, pp. 78, 79). 



