SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 
93 
through the summer, probably breeding, and in winter the birds are 
not uncommon on the coast prairies of Texas. They go in close 
flocks, whether feeding among the larger waders on the shores and 
mud flats, or wheeling and circling in air on fast buzzing wings. 
They are nervous, active little birds, always on the move and quick 
to take alarm. Vernon Bailey. 
Subgenus Pelidna. 
243a. Tringa alpina pacifica (Coues). Red-backed Sandpiper. 
Tarsus longer than middle toe and claw ; bill longer than tarsus, slightly 
curved ; middle of wing with a large white patch. Adults in summer: 
crown, back, and upper tail coverts bright rusty 
ochraceous, more or less spotted or streaked 
with black ; middle of belly black ; chest gray¬ 
ish white, thickly streaked with dusky; sides 
and back part of belly white. Adults in winter : 
upper parts plain ashy gray, obscurely streaked with dusky ; chest light 
gray, more or less streaked with dusky ; rest of under parts, sides of rump, 
and upper tail coverts white. Young: like adults in winter but upper 
parts spotted and streaked with black and ochraceous, and breast coarsely 
spotted with black. Length: 7.60-8.75, wing 4.60-4.95, bill 1.40-1.75, 
tarsus 1.00-1.15. 
Distribution. — North America and eastern Asia, breeding far north and 
wintering in California, the Gulf States, and southward. 
Nest. — A bed of dry grass. Eggs: 3 or 4, pale greenish to pale brown¬ 
ish clay color, spotted with dull chocolate and dark brown. 
The red-backed sandpiper is common in migrations or in winter 
along the coasts of the United States, but is rarely seen in the inte¬ 
rior. The breeding plumage marked by rusty back and black belly 
is sometimes acquired before the birds leave the United States for 
their northern breeding grounds, but the winter plumage is the more 
common dress up to the first of May. 
GENUS EREUNETES. 
General Characters. — Toes distinctly webbed at base ; bill slightly 
widened and flattened at tip. 
Fig. 110. 
KEY TO SPECIES. 
1. Bill shorter than tarsus.pusillus, p. 93. 
1'. Bill as long as or longer than tarsus .... occidentalis, p. J4. 
246. Ereunetes pusillus {Linn.). Semipalmated Sandpiper. 
Adults in summer. — Upper parts dusky and black, streaked with gray 
and pale buff; chest light gray, finely streaked ; chin, 
belly, and sides white. Adults in winter: upper parts 
dull gray, obscurely streaked with dusky; under 
parts white tinged with gray across chest. Young: Fig. 111. 
back spotted with black, and scalloped and streaked 
with buff and white; chest tinged with gray; rest of under parts whitish. 
