WESTEBN SANDPIPER 389 



Newport Sloughs, Orange County, December, 1884 (Belding, MS) ; 

 San Diego Bay, November, 1906, to January, 1907 (Willett, 1912a, 

 p. 37) ; San Clemente Island, December, 1908 (Linton, 1909, p. 194) ; 

 and Salton Sea, December 10, 1910, to January 14, 1911, quite com- 

 mon (Van Rossem, 1911, p. 131). The northward migration begins 

 as early as February or March, as birds appeared at Santa Barbara, 

 February 28, 1910 (Bowles and Howell, 1912, p. 9), and at Moss, 

 Monterey County, March 23, 1911 (Mus. Vert. Zool.). At Los Banos, 

 Merced County, Beck (MS) saw the first in 1912 on April 10. The 

 general migration through the state is at its height from about the first 

 of April until the middle or latter part of May. Several birds were 

 seen about Owens Lake, Inyo County, June 1, 1891, in company with 

 Snowy Plover (A. K. Fisher, 1893a, p. 23). There are several July 

 records for the state which probably pertain to barren birds. 



The Western Sandpiper is next to the smallest of our shore birds, 

 being but slightly larger than the Least Sandpiper. From the great 

 majority of our waders it is to be distinguished at once on the basis 

 of size. From the Least Sandpiper it can be told at a distance only 

 with diflSculty by its longer bill (compare figs. 67 and 68) ; but in the 

 hand, it is unmistakably recognizable by the presence of rather exten- 

 sive webbing between the bases of the front toes (fig. 70). In habits 

 these two species resemble one another closely. 



The Western Sandpiper occurs most commonly, if not almost 

 exclusively, in flocks, this being doubtless, as with many other shore 

 birds, for the common protection thereby afforded. They feed with 

 impartiality on open seashores, tide flats, boggy inland meadows, and 

 the margins of rain-pools, usually keeping in the open. In feeding, 

 the parties scatter out in open formation, but congregate promptly 

 into massed bodies when frightened, and take flight in close flocks. 



These birds begin to arrive on their breeding grounds in the 

 Norton Sound region of Alaska about the middle of May. The nest- 

 ing season extends from the latter part of May until the end of June. 

 Nelson (1887, p. 113) states that eggs were found by the first of 

 June or earlier, and young were found in one case on June 7, while 

 Grinnell (1900, p. 25) at Cape Prince of Wales north of Bering 

 Strait, Alaska, found fresh eggs June 28, 1898. 



The nests are usually placed on the drier parts of the tundra, gen- 

 erally on a mossy hummock or slight swell, although Grinnell (loc. 

 cit.) found a nest on a hummock in marshy ground. Sometimes the 

 nest is a thin layer of grass stems or willow leaves loosely arranged, 

 but more often it consists merely of a mat of crushed-down and 

 flattened vegetation such as is to be found at the spot chosen. The 

 eggs, usually four, are pear-shaped, and measure in inches from 1.11 

 by 0.82 to 1.30 by 0.92. "The ground is ordinarily pale clay color. 



