Atlin, June 29, Chilliwack, July 2, Okanagan Landing, July 3, and
Courtenay, July 7; Washington, North Dalles, July 4, and Clallam Bay,
July 17; Oregon, Silver Lake, July 1; California, Santa Barbara, July
18, and Bakersfield, July 19; Lower California, San Quentin, August 10;
Alberta, Onoway, July 1; Wyoming, Fort Bridger, July 13; Utah, Provo,
July 26; Colorado, Barr, July 5; Chihuahua, Pochaco, August 3;
Saskatchewan, Isle de la Crosse, July 18; Manitoba, Victoria Beach, July
7, and Shoal Lake, July 27; North Dakota, Pembina, July 17, and Turtle
Mountain, July 30; South Dakota, Forestburg, July 5, and Sioux Falls,
July 24; Nebraska, Lincoln, July 14; Kansas, Emporia, August 6, and
Osawatomie, August 31; Texas, Tom Green, and Concho Counties, July 20,
and Tivoli, July 30; Minnesota, North Pacific Junction, July 8,
Lanesboro, July 15, and St. Vincent, July 30; Wisconsin, Madison, July
11, North Freedom, July 14, and Madison, July 24; Iowa, Marshalltown,
July 8, and Sioux City, July 17; Ontario, Toronto, July 4; Michigan,
Detroit, July 7, and Charity Island, July 10; Ohio, Bay Point, July 3,
Painesville, July 8, and Youngstown, July 27; Illinois, Chicago, July 2,
and Peoria, July 13; Kentucky, Lexington, July 16; Maine, Portland, July
23; New Hampshire, Manchester, July 10; Vermont, St. Johnsbury, July 16,
and Rutland, July 19; Massachusetts, Cape Cod, July 1, Ponkapog, July
16, and Dennis, July 25; Connecticut, New Haven, July 14, and Niantic,
July 22; New York, Long Beach, July 3, Mastic, July 4, and Rochester,
July 21; New Jersey, Tuckerton, July 3, Camden, July 7, and North
Branch, July 8; Pennsylvania, Renovo, August 3, Beaver, August 11, Erie,
August 13, and Pittsburgh, August 15; Maryland, Chesapeake Beach, August
16; South Carolina, Bulls Point, July 30; Georgia, Savannah, July 23;
Alabama, Leighton, July 26; Florida, Palma Sola, July 9, James Island,
July 20, and Pensacola, July 26; Bahama Islands, Long Island, July 16,
Great Bahama, July 18, and Inagua, July 28; Cuba, Guantanamo, August 15,
and Batabano, August 26; Jamaica, Port Henderson, August 2; Porto Rico,
Mona Island, August 9, and Joyuda, August 28; Lesser Antilles, Barbuda,
August 14, St. Vincent, August 20, and Trinidad, August 22; and
Venezuela, Bonaire, July 23, Macuto, August 2, and La Guaira, August 10.
Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, St. Paul Island, September 14;
British Columbia, Chilliwack, September 11, and Okanagan Landing,
September 15; Washington, Nisqually Flats, November 14; Oregon,
Portland, September 7, Netarts Bay, September 11, and Tillamook,
September 15; Montana, Corvallis, September 7; Utah, Ogden, October 8;
Colorado, Denver, October 3, and Barr, October 5; Saskatchewan, Indian
Head, September 4, and Rosetown, September 6; Manitoba, Aweme, September
26, and Margaret, October 3; North Dakota, Grafton, September 22; South
Dakota, Forestburg, September 21, and Lacreek, September 29; Nebraska,
Nebraska City, October 10, and Lincoln, November 11; Oklahoma, Copan,
October 16; Minnesota, Lanesboro, September 15; Iowa, Emmetsburg,
September 23, Keokuk, September 24, and Marshalltown, October 12;
Ontario, Kingston, September 29, Ottawa, October 12, and Point Pelee,
October 15; Michigan, Detroit, October 6; Ohio, Columbus, October 22,
Youngstown, October 29, and Cleveland, November 9; Illinois, De Kalb,
October 9; Missouri, Courtenay, November 9; Tennessee, October 23; Nova
Scotia, Pictou, October 8; Quebec, Montreal, October 20; Maine,
Lewiston, October 16; Massachusetts, Lynn, October 4, Taunton, October
7, and Woods Hole, October 30; New York, Sayville, October 6, Ithaca,
October 12, Canandaigua, October 14, and Branchport, October 28;
Maryland, Back River, November 3; and District of Columbia, Anacostia
River, November 27.
_Casual records._--The least sandpiper has on a few occasions been
detected outside of its normal range. Among these occurrences are: Chile
(no definite locality [Salvin]); Greenland (Disko Fjord, August, 1878,
Noursoak Peninsula, spring of 1867, and Frederikshaab, July, 1857);
England (Cornwall, October 1853, and September, 1890, and Devonshire,
September, 1869, and August, 1892); and northeastern Siberia
(Belkoffsky, July 23, 1880, and Plover Bay, August 13, 1880).
_Egg dates._--Magdalen Islands: 79 records, June 3 to 30; 40 records,
June 8 to 17. Labrador and Newfoundland: 13 records, June 7 to July 1; 7
records, June 15 to 25. Arctic Canada: 14 records, June 14 to July 8; 7
records, June 27 to July 1.
PISOBIA SUBMINUTA (Middendorff)
LONG-TOED STINT
HABITS
I prefer the above name, as adopted by Robert Ridgway (1919), to the
Check List name, _damacensis_, as it seems to have more certain
application. The status of the species and its nomenclature is fully
discussed by Dr. Leonhard Stejneger (1885).
This is one of several Asiatic species that have gained places on our
list as stragglers to Alaska. A specimen of the long-toed stint was
taken by Dr. Charles H. Townsend on Otter Island, in the Pribilofs, on
June 8, 1885, constituting the only North American record. As the
species migrates regularly through the Commander Islands to Kamchatka,
it would not be surprising if careful collecting in the western
Aleutians showed it to occur frequently in North American territory. Its
close resemblance to some other small sandpipers might easily cause it
to be overlooked. Very little seems to be known about its habits.
_Spring._--Doctor Stejneger (1885) says:
The long-toed stint arrives at Bering Island in large flocks during
the latter part of May, and are then met with on sandy beaches,
where the surf has thrown up large masses of seaweed, busily
engaged in picking up the numerous small crustaceans, etc., with
which the weeds abound. Most of the birds stay only a few days,
going further north, while a small number remain over summer,
breeding sparingly on the large swamp behind the village. My
efforts to find the nests were unsuccessful, but I shot birds near
Zapornaja Reschka on the 17th and 22d of June, and on the 7th of
August.
W. Sprague Brooks (1915) reports birds seen or taken at points in
Kamchatka on May 21 and 25, 1913, which probably were just arriving on
their breeding grounds.
_Eggs._--I can find no description of the nesting habits of the
long-toed stint in print and have located only one set of eggs. This is
in Col. John E. Thayer's collection and has very scanty data. It was
taken by O. Bernhaner at Lake Baikal, Siberia, on June 18, 1902; the
nest was "placed on the ground." The four eggs in this set are ovate
pyriform in shape and have hardly any gloss. The ground colors vary from
"olive buff" to "deep olive buff." They are spotted, chiefly at the
larger end, with "snuff brown," "sepia," and "warm sepia," with a few
underlying spots of "pale brownish drab." They measure 28.3 by 20, 28 by
19.7, 28.5 by 20.7 and 28.3 by 20 millimeters.
_Plumages._--The downy young seems to be entirely unknown. I have not
seen enough specimens to add anything to our knowledge of the molts. Mr.
Ridgway (1919) has described the immature and seasonal plumages quite
fully.
DISTRIBUTION
_Breeding range._--Said to breed in eastern Siberia, the shores of the
Sea of Okhotsk, Kamchatka, Bering Island, and south to the Kurile
Islands. Eggs have been taken at Lake Baikal, Siberia, and it probably
breeds in the valley of the Lena River, south of the Arctic Circle.
_Winter range._--The Malay Archipelago, India, Burma, Ceylon, the
Philippines, and Australia.
_Migration._--It arrives on Bering Island during the latter part of May
and on Kamchatka as early as May 21. Fall migrants reach the Philippines
as early as August 10.
_Casual record._--Accidental on the Pribilof Islands, Otter Island, June
8, 1885.
_Egg date._--Siberia: 1 record, June 18.
PISOBIA RUFICOLLIS (Pallas)
RUFOUS-NECKED SANDPIPER
HABITS
A long time ago Col. John E. Thayer (1909) added this species to the
North American list. In a lot of birds which he received from A. H.
Dunham were a pair of adults and two young of the rufous-necked
sandpiper, or eastern least stint, as it is also called. They were
collected at Nome, Alaska, on July 10, 1908, where they had evidently
bred. This record was discredited, however, and the species was placed
on the hypothetical list. But the species was firmly established as a
North American bird by Alfred M. Bailey (1926), who reported the capture
of two specimens in Alaska, an adult female at Cape Prince of Wales on
June 11, and a bird of the year at Wainwright on August 15, 1922. The
birds were breeding in that vicinity, an offshoot from the main breeding
range of the species in northeastern Siberia.
_Spring._--The main migration route is northward from southern Asia, the
Philippine Islands, and even Australia, through the Kurile and Commander
Islands and Kamchatka to its breeding grounds. Dr. Leonhard Stejneger
(1885) says:
This species arrives at Bering Island late in May in rather large
flocks, but does not stay long. None were met with during the whole
summer, until, in the first half of September, they took a short
rest on the shores of our island before continuing their long
travel to the southward.
A large series of these birds was collected by the Jesup North Pacific
expedition in northeastern Siberia. Dr. J. A. Allen (1905) quotes from
the field notes of N. G. Buxton as follows:
Abundant spring and fall migrant, and some breed at Kooshka, but
the majority move farther inland during the breeding season. First
birds arrived May 28, and were common on the 30th in large flocks
and in company with the red backed. By June 5 they have paired or
passed on, and are not common again until the second week of July.
They have mostly gone by September 11. In habits similar to
_Pelidna alpina_.
_Nesting._--Mr. Bailey (1926) was fortunate enough to see a pair
building their nest, along a stream bed on the high tundra at the base
of Wales Mountain, Alaska; in his notes for June 14, 1922, he wrote:
With my glasses I watched a pair of little pink-necked sandpipers
as they worked around the grass at the foot of the hill. The male
would give up his searching among the dried grass stalks to
demonstrate his love for his little partner, upon which she would
take to wing and circle about. Finally she entered a little tussock
of grass, standing on her "nose" fluttering her tail and wings.
Soon the male pushed his way inside, too, and after a few more
rustling about, they took to wing. I looked in the grass and found
a little cavity which they were just lining with leaves. Upon
examining their nesting clump, I found a small pit, exactly similar
to the nest of the western sandpiper, in which they had deposited
about 20 small willow leaves. I marked the spot carefully, but upon
my return found the nest abandoned.
W. Sprague Brooks (1915) found a few pairs breeding at the head of
Providence Bay, northeastern Siberia; he writes:
Two sets of fresh eggs, numbering three and four, respectively,
were taken on June 11, 1913; the male incubating one and the female
the other. Both birds when disturbed fluttered off the nest like
other sandpipers. The nests were cavities on small mounds of tundra
lined with dry willow leaves.
_Eggs._--I have been unable to locate any eggs of the rufous-necked
sandpiper and do not know what became of the two sets referred to above.
Joseph Dixon (1918) implies that the eggs resemble those of the
spoonbill sandpiper.
_Plumages._--In the downy young the crown and upper parts are variegated
with black, "tawny" and "warm buff"; the forehead, superciliary stripe
and sides of the head and neck are "warm buff"; the under parts are
white, washed on the breast with pale buff; a narrow median stripe on
the forehead and a broader loral stripe are black. The specimen
described above was taken at Cape Serdze, Siberia, on July 16, and shows
the beginning of the juvenal plumage; the back and scapulars are well
covered with young feathers and the wings are well started, though the
bird is still very small and mostly downy. The feathers of the back and
scapulars are black, broadly edged with "hazel," and the scapulars are
tipped with white.
Older young and subsequent plumages are well described by Robert Ridgway
(1919). The molts are apparently similar to those of other species in
the genus. The postnuptial molt of the body plumage occurs mainly in
August and the wings and tail are molted in January and February. I have
seen birds in winter plumage as early as August 13 and as late as March
15. Probably the prenuptial molt of the body plumage takes place in
April. In fresh nuptial plumage the bright colors of the upper parts are
veiled with "drab-gray" tips, which soon wear away. There is much
individual variation in the amount of rufous on the head, neck, and
breast. Mr. Dixon (1918) says that in this plumage the rufous-necked
sandpiper looks very much like the spoonbill sandpiper; and, as its
behavior is similar, it might easily be mistaken for it.
DISTRIBUTION
_Breeding range._--Northeastern Siberia (probably the delta of the Lena
River and the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, certainly at Providence Bay,
Kooshka, and Cape Serdze); and northwestern Alaska (Cape Prince of
Wales, Wainwright, and probably Nome.)
_Winter range._--The Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, and Australia.
_Migrations._--First arrivals reach Gichiga, Siberia, May 28, and they
are mostly gone by September 11. They pass Bering Island late in May and
again during the first half of September. One taken by G. Dallas Hanna
on St. Paul Island, August 27, 1920. They have been taken in the
Philippines as early as August 13. Japan, China, and Lake Baikal are
included in the migration route.
PELIDNA ALPINA ALPINA (Linnaeus)
DUNLIN
HABITS
The well-known European dunlin has occurred occasionally as a straggler
on our eastern coasts, Massachusetts and New York. It has probably
occurred here more often than is known, for it closely resembles our
red-backed sandpiper, especially in winter plumage. There is no reason
why it should not occur here more often, for it is now known to breed
regularly on the east coast of Greenland.
Thayer and Bangs (1914) thought, at one time, that we should recognize
three races of the dunlin, which they designated as follows:
_Pelidna alpina alpina_ (Linn.), western Europe. Small, with
shortest, straightest bill; upper parts darker with less reddish;
heavily spotted (sometimes almost streaked) with dusky below,
between throat and black breast patch.
_Pelidna alpina pacifica_ Coues. North America. Much larger, with
much longer, more curved bill; upper parts paler with much more
reddish; much less heavily spotted with dusky below, between
throat and black breast patch.
_Pelidna alpina sakhalina_ (Vieill.) East Siberia. Size and length
and shape of bill intermediate between that of the other two
forms; colors much paler than in either; upper parts very pale
reddish, much mixed with gray; back of neck and top of head nearly
wholly pale gray; below very slightly spotted with dusky, between
throat and black breast patch (much less so, even than in
_pacifica_).
Recently, Mr. Bangs tells me, he has come to the conclusion that the
Siberian bird should not be separated from the American, as the
characters are too slight and rather intermediate. This seems like a
wise decision, as the naming of intermediates is undesirable.
Much has been published on the habits of the dunlin, but, as they differ
but little from those of our birds, it seems superfluous to write its
full life history.
_Nesting._--Comparatively few of the great hosts of dunlins which visit
England in fall and winter breed on the mainland of Great Britain.
Macgillivray (1852) gives a good account of their nesting habits in
Scotland, as follows:
The dunlins, in fact, breed in great numbers on the heaths of many
parts of Scotland and its larger islands, where they may be found
scattered in the haunts selected by the golden plovers, with which
they are so frequently seen in company that they have popularly
obtained the name of plovers' pages. Sometimes about the middle of
April, but always before that of May, they are seen dispersed over
the moors in pairs like the birds just named, which at this season
they greatly resemble in manners. From this period until the end of
August none are to be found along the shores of the sea, instead of
searching which, they now seek for insects and worms, in the
shallow pools, soft ground, and by the edges of lakes and marshes.
The male frequently flies up to a person intruding upon his haunts,
and sometimes endeavours to entice him away by feigning lameness.
Rev. Henry H. Slater (1898) says that the nest "is usually in a tussock
of grass, a roughly made hollow, inartistically lined with grass, but
often carefully concealed in the herbage."
A. L. V. Manniche (1910) found the dunlin a common breeding bird on the
northeast coast of Greenland. He writes:
The nests are most frequently built on hillocks with long grass. I
found, however, not seldom nests of dunlins on small islets covered
with short grass, but always near to or surrounded by shallow
water. The dunlin's nest is often placed on similar spots, and has
the same exterior as that of the phalarope, but it can easily be
distinguished, as the bottom of the dunlin's nest is always lined
with a few withered leaves of _Salix arctica_, while the phalarope
uses bent straws as layer for its eggs. On spots where many dunlins
nest several newly scratched but half-finished nests may always be
found; they are probably left because the birds have found the
ground too wet. The dunlins like to nest on moors and bogs partly
irrigated by melted snow streaming down from the rocks. On such
places I found many nests with eggs and newborn downy young, which
were lying close together in broods carefully guarded by the old
female, on isolated larger hillocks surrounded by the ice-cold snow
water. When the flood of melting snow is unusually strong, such
localities may be completely inundated, and then not only the eggs
but also the frail young ones, which are not yet able to save
themselves by swimming through the cold water to dry spots, will be
destroyed.
_Eggs._--The great amount of variation in the beautiful eggs of the
dunlin is well illustrated in Frank Poynting's (1895) fine colored plate
of 12 eggs. Herbert Massey (1913) gives a better description of the eggs
than I can give, so I quote him, as follows:
The eggs of this species resemble those of _G. gallinago_ very
closely in color, but in comparing a series (74 sets or 296 eggs)
with that of _G. gallinago_ one is struck by the greater proportion
of the lighter ground colors in the dunlin, the very deep olives
and the very dark browns being almost absent. On the other hand,
the beautiful light blue-green and the pale buff are rare in _G.
gallinago_. The surface spots are chiefly two shades of brown, a
rich red and a dark brown, with, in many cases, spots of violet
gray. In _T. alpina_ it is rare to find the two shades of brown in
the same egg, as is often the case with _G. gallinago_. The
markings are very varied, some eggs dusted all over with tiny
specks, others with specks and fair-sized spots, and again others
with great blotches of color, chiefly at the larger end. The
pattern markings on the eggs of the same set are often very
dissimilar. Many of the eggs of this species show the spiral
arrangement of the spots. The eggs are very glossy, and on this
account have a brighter appearance than eggs of _G. gallinago_. I
have only one set entirely without gloss.
The number of eggs is normally four, occasionally only three, and as
many as five and even six have been found in a nest. The measurements of
100 eggs, furnished by Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, average 34.3 by 24.4
millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =38.3= by 25.4,
35 by =25.8=, =31.3= by 23.2, and 32 by =23= millimeters.
_Young._--Incubation is shared by both sexes and requires 22 days.
Macgillivray (1852) says of the young:
Like those of the golden plover and lapwing, they leave the nest
immediately after exclusion from the egg, run about, and when
alarmed conceal themselves by sitting close to the ground and
remaining motionless. If at this period a person approaches their
retreat, the male especially, but frequently the female also, flies
up to meet the intruder and uses the same artifices for deceiving
him as many other birds of this family. After they are able to
shift for themselves the young remain several weeks on the moors
with their parents, both collecting into small flocks, which are
often intermingled with those of the golden plover, and often in
the evenings uniting into larger. They rest at night on the
smoother parts of the heath, and both species, when resting by day,
either stand or lie on the ground. When one advances within a
hundred yards of such a flock it is pleasant to see them stretch up
their wings, as if preparing for flight, utter a few low notes, and
immediately stand on the alert, or run a short way; but at this
season they are not at all shy.
Seton Gordon (1915), after giving a charming account of the breeding
haunts of the dunlin in Scotland, has this to say about the solicitude
of a devoted mother.
It was about this time that I saw the hen in precisely the same
locality as before. She showed much more anxiety than the cock,
uttering almost incessantly two alarm notes as she walked round me.
One of these notes was the characteristic trill, unlike, I think,
any other cry in the bird world; the other, which appeared to be
the note of extra alarm, was a harsh cry reminding me much of the
alarm note of the lesser tern. In order to observe the effect, I
called several times, imitating the cry of one of her chicks. The
effect was striking and instantaneous; the bird rushed up in alarm
and literally rolled herself about on the ground with feathers
ruffled. She, indeed, presented such an appearance that it was
quite impossible to see her head or feet emerging from the
disheveled bundle into which she rolled herself. Evidently her
tactics were quite different--considerably less elegant, but
perhaps equally forcible--to those used by the dotterel under
similar circumstances. After a time she began to realize that her
deception was producing no effect on the object of her mistrust,
and moved anxiously round me.
_Plumages._--In natal down the young dunlin is similar to the young
red-backed sandpiper, but is paler in color, more buffy, and less
rufous. The subsequent molts and plumages are similar to those of our
American bird. They are well described in Witherby's (1920) Handbook.
_Food._--Macgillivray (1852) made some careful observations on the
feeding habits of dunlins, which are well worth quoting, as follows:
Being in a muddy place, which probably afforded a good supply of
food, they did not run much, but yet moved quickly about, with
their legs a little bent, the body horizontal, the head a little
declined, and the bill directed forward toward the ground at an
angle of about 45°. I observed that they seemed in general merely
to touch the surface, but also sometimes to introduce their bill
into the mud for about a fourth of its length; but this was always
with a rapid tapping and somewhat wriggling movement, and not by
thrusting it in sedately. This flock having flown away, I observed
another of about 12 individuals alight at a little distance on the
other side of the mill stream. Being very intent on tapping the
mud, they allowed me to approach within 10 paces, so that I could
see them very distinctly. I examined the marks made by them in the
mud. Although it was soft, very few footmarks were left, but the
place was covered with numberless small holes made by their bills,
and forming little groups, as if made by the individual birds
separately. Of these impressions very many were mere hollows not
much larger than those on a thimble, and not a twelfth of an inch
deep; others scarcely perceptible, while a few were larger,
extending to a depth of two-twelfths; and here and there one or two
to the depth of nearly half an inch. On scraping the mud, I could
perceive no worms or shells. It is thus clear that they search by
gently tapping, and it appears that they discover the object of
their search rather by the kind of resistance which it yields than
by touch like that of the human skin.
Witherby's (1920) Handbook says that the food is mainly animal and
includes mollusks, worms, crustaceans (shrimps and sandhoppers), insects
(beetles, flies, etc.), and spiders.
_Behavior._--The habits of the European dunlin seem to be the same as
those of our bird. It is equally tame and confiding, unless shot at too
much, and it has the same habit of flying in large, closely bunched
flocks. John T. Nichols tells me that some that he saw near Liverpool in
September, "when on the ground, moved about very actively for the most
part (contrasted with the sluggishness of the redback as we know it in
migration) and presented a low, hunch-shouldered figure." Abel Chapman
(1924) says: