84 
BIRDS OF PENNSYLVANIA 
Adult in spring .—Upper parts grayish-brown and many feathers have black cen¬ 
ters with paler edges; rump and upper tail-coverts chiefly white with irregular bars 
or spots of black or brownish ; streak over eye, chin, throat and breast rusty-red; 
belly, flanks and under tail-coverts white or nearly white ; sides whitish with dusky 
streaks ; bill and legs black, eyes brown. Birds both young and old, taken in 
autumn, have upper parts more grayish and less black, and lower parts generally 
white. v 
Habitat .—Nearly cosmopolitan ; breeds in high northern latitudes, but visits the 
Southern Hemisphere during migrations. 
The Robin-snipe or Gray-back, as the Knot is called by hunters on 
the Atlantic coast of New Jersey, where it is abundant during- migra¬ 
tions, is a regular and somewhat common visitor about the lake shore 
and at Erie bay, in Erie county, during the spring and fall migrations. 
In other parts of the state the Knot is seldom seen. 
Tringa maritima Brunn. 
* , ■ , 
Purple Sandpiper. 
Description. 
Bill quite slender and straight or slightly curved down at end. 
“ Winter dress .—Back and scapulars sooty black, strongly glossed with purplish, 
the feathers bordered terminally with dark plumbeous-gray; jugulum uniform 
mouse-gray or brownish-plumbeous. 
“ Young , first plumage. —Scapulars, interscapulars and wing-coverts bordered 
with pale grayish-buff, with little or none of rusty ; length about 9 inches ; (extent 
about 16) ; bill about 1.20 ; tarsus about .99” — B. B. & R. Birds of N. A. 
Habitat .—Northern portions of Northern Hemisphere , in North America chiefly 
the northeastern portions, breeding in the high north, migrating in winter to the 
eastern and middle states, the great lakes and the shores of the larger streams in 
the Mississippi valley. 
This species I have never met with in Pennsylvania, where it occurs 
only as a very rare or casual migrant. Mr. George B. Sennett, of Erie 
city, mentions it as a straggler in his locality. The late Judge Libhart 
records in his report the capture of a Purple Sandpiper in August (year 
not given) in Lancaster county. A specimen in the U. S. National 
Museum was taken many years ago near Philadelphia. 
Tringa maculata Vieill. 
Pectoral Sandpiper; Grass-snipe; Jack-snipe. 
Description {Plate 66). 
Adult .—Length about 10 inches ; extent about 18 ; bill little over an inch long and 
straight; bill (dried skin) blackish, paler toward base; legs dark greenish; eyes 
brown ; upper parts, generally blackish-brown, feathers edged with reddish-brown 
and white or whitish ; chin, upper part of throat and indistinct line over eye whitish ; 
ioreneck and upper part of breast ashy-gray (with sometimes a buff tinge) with 
numerous dusky streaks, rest of breast, belly, sides and crissum pure white. 
Habitat.— The whole of North America, the West Indies and the greater part of 
South America ; breeds in the Arctic regions. Of frequent occurrence in Europe. 
