The Least Sandpiper 



are not to be shot except by glass-eyed guns. But now, good-bye, little 

 piper. It's a shame to leave you; but you know, really, I can't put you 

 into my pocket." 



Baird's Sandpiper has, until recently, been regarded as an exceedingly 

 rare migrant in California. Mr. Joseph Mailliard recorded the taking 

 of a specimen at Mt. Pinos on August 25, 1897, as the second capture for 

 the State. The birds are of regular occurrence at Santa Barbara in 

 August, and have been seen in spring (e. g., May 2, 1913), so that it seems 

 altogether probable that their earlier occurrence has simply been over- 

 looked. On the other hand, it is known that the bird has a wide migra- 

 tion range in the interior, where it is fond of touching at glacial lakes and 

 cirques at the highest elevations. It is essentially a boreal bird, for it 

 breeds along the shores of the Arctic Ocean from Point Barrow eastward, 

 and winters among the Andean lakes of Chile. 



No. 240 



Least Sandpiper 



A. O. U. No. 242. Pisobia minutilla (Vieillot). 



Synonyms. — American Stint. Peep. 



Description. — Adult in summer: Upperparts brownish black, relieved by 

 fuscous on wings, hind-neck, etc., the feathers more or less bordered with grayish and 

 rusty ochraceous, especially on scapulars, where deeply indented, often nearly to 

 shaft; upper tail-coverts and central feathers of tail brownish black; remaining tail- 

 feathers ashy gray; sides of head, neck, and breast pale brownish or buffy, spotted and 

 streaked with dusky; a few dusky streaks on sides; remaining underparts white. Bill 

 blackish; feet and legs yellowish green. Winter plumage: Above plain brownish 

 gray, black, if at all, only in mesial streaks; spotting of breast nearly obsolete, but 

 breast heavily washed with grayish brown. Immature: Similar to adult in summer, 

 but without ochraceous indentations on scapular feathers; feathers of back with 

 rounded rusty tips; scapulars with white tips on outer web, etc.; breast less distinctly 

 streaked. Length 152.4 (6.00); wing 91.4 (3.60); tail 43.2 (1.70); bill 17.6 (.69); tarsus 

 18.5 (.73). 



Recognition Marks. — Warbler to sparrow size; least among Sandpipers; most 

 liable to be confused with Ereunetes pusillus and E. mauri, from which it differs in its 

 slightly smaller size, slenderer and shorter bill, more extensively washed breast, rather 

 darker coloration above; and lighter, more greenish feet and legs. The absence of 

 webs on the feet is, of course, distinctive. 



Nesting. — Does not breed in California. Nest: A grass-lined depression on 

 ground or hollow in moss. Eggs: 3 or 4; pale olive-buff or pale greenish buff, spotted 

 and marked lightly or heavily, often finely, with reddish brown (bister to burnt umber) 

 with duller shadows. Av. size 27.9 x 20.3 (1.10 x .80). Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — North and South America. Breeds from the Magdalen 

 Islands, Nova Scotia, southern Ungava, central Keewatin, and the Yakutat Bay dis- 



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