100 SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 
GENUS TRYNGITES. 
262. Tryngites subruflcollis (Vieill.). Buff-breasted Sand¬ 
piper. 
Toes not webbed; bill slender, straight, and about as long as middle 
toe without claw; under surface of wing beautifully mottled and marbled 
with black on white and creamy. Adults : upper parts dull brownish 
buff, the feathers with black or dusky centers; under parts plain rich 
buff. Young: like adults, but feathers of back edged with whitish. 
Length: 7.00-8.90, wing 5.10-5.50, bill .75-80, tarsus 1.15-1.30. 
Distribution. — North America in general, especially the interior, breed¬ 
ing from the interior of British America and the Yukon district to the 
arctic coast; south in winter to Uruguay and Peru. Occasional in 
Europe. 
Nest. — A depression in the ground lined with a little moss or grass. 
Eggs : usually 4, grayish or pale olive buff, spotted with dark brown and 
purplish gray. 
Although so widely distributed, the buff-breasted sandpipers do 
not seem to be common except on their northern breeding grounds, 
and in some of their southern stopping places. In the spring migra¬ 
tion they are abundant on the coast prairies of Texas and Louisiana 
and are favorite game birds of the pot-hunters because they go in 
dense flocks on the open prairie and yield many birds to few shots. 
GENUS ACTITIS. 
263. Actitis macularia (Linn.). Spotted Sandpiper. 
Small and slender, bill approximately the length of tarsus, or of middle 
toe and claw. Adults in summer: entire upper parts bronzy or greenish 
olive, faintly marked with dusky; under parts white, marked, except on 
middle of belly, with round spots of dusky ; quills dusky, secondaries 
tipped with white, with a conspicuous white line along the middle of open 
wing. Adults in winter: white of under parts unspotted. Young: like 
winter adults but finely barred on wings and back with dusky and buff. 
Length : 7-8, wing 4.05-4.60, bill .90-1.05, tarsus .90-1.05. 
Remarks. — In the field the spotted sandpiper can always be recognized 
by its small size, plain gray color, and the conspicuous white bar along the 
middle of the wing in flight. 
Distribution. — Whole of North America, breeding throughout most of 
its range ; south in winter to Brazil and Uruguay. 
Nest. — On dry ground in tuft of grass or under low bush, lined with 
leaves and grass. Eggs: 4, huffy, spotted with lilac, dark brown, and 
black. 
Although never numerous or in flocks, the spotted sandpiper or 
river sand peep is the commonest and best known of our sandpipers 
over the country at large. There is hardly a patch of water from 
the brooks in the mountain meadows to the rivers in the lowlands 
which has not one or more pairs of these little quaker gray birds 
picking along their shores with teetering gait, and with shrill peet- 
weet, buzzing from stone to stone so fast that their wing tips seem 
