The Western Sandpiper 



No. 242 



Western Sandpiper 



A. O. U. No. 247. Ereunetes mauri Cabanis. 



Synonyms. — Western Semipalmated Sandpiper. Peep. Sand-peep. 

 Ox-eye. 



Description. — Adult in summer: Above mingled black, grayish brown, bright 

 rusty and whitish — black and rusty alternating boldly on centers of feathers, the 

 gray chiefly margining and subterminal, the white narrowly on tips of feathers only; 

 rusty confluent on auriculars and on edges of crown into ill-defined aureole; wing- 

 quills brownish black; upper tail-coverts black centrally, white laterally; central pair 

 of tail-feathers black, the remaining pairs brownish gray; underparts white (the cheeks, 

 lower neck, and breast broadly), marked sharply with grayish brown and blackish; 

 a few scattering arrow-heads of dusky along sides. Bill black; feet and legs greenish 

 dusky. Adults in winter: Rusty nearly wanting. Above chiefly plain grayish brown, 

 with darker shaft-streaks in central area; dusky spotting of chest, etc., similarly reduced 

 to narrow, sharply defined mesial shafts. Immature: Similar to adult in summer, 

 but feathers of back and scapulars rounded, and with conspicuous edgings of rufous 

 or white; breast tinged with buffy, and marked sparingly with dusky on sides only. 

 Measurements: Adult female, length 167.4 (6.59); wing 97.2 (3.83); tail 44 (1.73); 

 bill 26.9 (1.06); tarsus 24.9 (.98). Adult male, av. of 10: length 152.5 (6.01); wing 

 91-3 (3-59); tail 41.7 (1.64); bill 22.8 (.90); tarsus 21.6 (.85). 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size; a little larger than Pisobia minutilla, from 

 which it may be distinguished by longer, stouter bill, somewhat lighter coloration of 

 back, clearer white below, with streaked area of breast not so extensive; partial webbing 

 of feet, of course, distinctive. 



Nesting. — Nest: On the ground, or bedded in sphagnum moss. Eggs: 4; 

 warm buff (tilleul buff) or more rarely olive-buff, marked heavily and often very finely 

 with reddish brown (Rood's brown or walnut-brown to burnt umber or even blackish). 

 Av. size 29.7 x 21.3 (1.17 x .84); index 71. Season: June; one brood. 



General Range. — Breeds in Alaska from Kotzebue Sound south to Yukon 

 mouth. Migrates chiefly west of the Rocky Mountains and coastwise, but also appears 

 on Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts southward. Winters from North Carolina and 

 southern Lower California south to Venezuela and Peru. 



Occurrence in California. — Abundant migrant, chiefly coastwise; but also of 

 casual appearance at interior points. Winters sparingly along the coasts, and especi- 

 ally in the San Diegan district. 



Authorities. — Cassin (Ereunetes petrificatus), in Baird, Rep. Pac. R. R. Surv., 

 vol. ix., 1858, p. 742, part (Presidio; Petaluma) ; Nelson, Rep. Nat. Hist. Coll. Alaska, 

 1887, p. 113 (St. Michael, Alaska; breeding habits, nest, eggs, etc.); Cooke, U. S. Dept. 

 Agric, Biol. Surv. Bull., no. 35, 1910, p. 47 (distr. and migr.) ; Bowles and Howell, 

 Condor, vol. xiv., 1912, p. 9 (Santa Barbara; migr. dates). 



"SAND PEEPS are almost too well known to require comment" — 

 and as a consequence, comments upon the Western Sandpiper are few, 

 and our knowledge of the species is a little hazy and lacking in detail. Yet 



1246 



