Range.—North and South America; casual in Europe.
Breeding range.—Although the white-rumped sandpiper has been noted in summer from Wainwright, Alaska, east to southern Greenland (Julianshaab), the only places where eggs have been taken are Point Barrow, Alaska; Herschel Island, Yukon; Taylor Island, Victoria Land; Fort Anderson and Rendezvous Lake, Mackenzie; and the southeast shore of Lake Nettilling, Baffin Island.
Winter range.—North to Paraguay (Rio Pilcomayo and Rio Parana); and Uruguay (Montevideo). East to Uruguay (Montevideo); Argentina (La Plata, Cape San Antonio, Bahia Blanca, Rio Chubut, and Puerto San Julian); the Falkland Islands; and Tierra del Fuego. South to Tierra Fuego; and southern Chile (Straits of Magellan). West to Chile (Straits of Magellan and Santiago); and Paraguay (Rio Pilcomayo).
Spring migration.—Early dates of spring arrival are: Florida, De Funiak Springs, May 12; Georgia, Savannah, May 17; South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, May 7, Frogmore, May 7, and Charleston, May 16; North Carolina, Cape Hatteras, May 2, Churchs Island, May 6, and Pea and Brodie Islands, May 15; Virginia, Smith's Island, May 14; District of Columbia, Washington, May 11; New Jersey, Long Beach, May 9, Trenton, May 12, and Bernardsville, May 14; New York, Mastic, May 11, Canandaigua, May 19, Rockaway Beach, May 21, and Freeport, May 22; Connecticut, Middletown, May 10, and New Haven, May 19; Rhode Island, Block Island, May 16; Massachusetts, Melrose, May 9, and Harvard, May 20; Vermont, Woodstock, May 14, Brattleboro, May 18, and Rutland, May 19; Maine, Scarboro, May 29; Quebec, Godbout, May 24, and Quebec City, May 27; Louisiana, Lobdell, May 14; Kentucky, Bowling Green, April 27; Missouri, Jacks Fork, May 15, and Sand Ridge, May 16; Illinois, De Kalb, May 8, and Elgin, May 11; Ohio, Canton, May 8, Berlin Center, May 11, and Youngstown, May 17; Michigan, Detroit, May 6; Ontario, Toronto, May 26; Iowa, Marshalltown, May 4, and Sioux City, May 7; Wisconsin, Whitewater, April 28; Minnesota, Wilder, May 5, Jackson, May 13, and Heron Lake, May 19; Texas, Brownsville, April 11, and Ingram, May 8; Kansas, Emporia, May 4, Lawrence, May 5, and Topeka, May 7; Nebraska, Neligh, May 1, and Peru, May 13; South Dakota, Sioux Falls, May 5, and Vermilion, May 9; Manitoba, Whitewater Lake, May 12; Saskatchewan, Ravenscrag, May 13; and Mackenzie, Fort Resolution, May 19, and Fort Simpson, May 26.
Late dates of spring departure from the wintering grounds are: Argentina, French Bay, March 7, and Guamini, March 8. In North America, late dates are: South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, May 30, and Frogmore, May 31; North Carolina, Raleigh, May 24, and Lake Ellis, June 15; Virginia, Smith's Island, June 7; Delaware, Lewes, June 8; Pennsylvania, Erie, June 4; New Jersey, Bernardsville, May 24, and Camden, May 24; New York, Castleton, June 2, and Long Beach, June 20; Massachusetts, Harvard, June 4; Illinois, Waukegan, June 9; Ohio, Painesville, June 14, and Lakeside, June 25; Ontario, Toronto, June 21; Iowa, Sioux City, May 30, and Keokuk, June 5; Wisconsin, Madison, May 30; Minnesota, Hallock, June 8; Texas, Lomita, May 22, and Gainesville, May 24; Kansas, Fort Riley, May 22 and Stafford County, June 6; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 20, Republican Fork, May 25, and Valentine, May 25; South Dakota, Forestburg, May 27, and Vermilion, June 5; North Dakota, Charlson, June 1; Manitoba, Reaburn, June 6, Duck Mountain, June 8, and Shoal Lake, June 20; and Saskatchewan, Kutanajan Lake, June 9, and Quill Lake, June 10.
Fall migration.—Early fall arrivals are: Saskatchewan, Indian Head, July 1; Texas, Tivoli, August 17; Minnesota, St. Vincent, August 4; Wisconsin, Lake Koshkonong, August 1; Iowa, Marshalltown, August 19, and Keokuk, August 21; Ontario, Toronto, August 23; Michigan, Lansing, July 29; Massachusetts, Marthas Vineyard, July 16, and Ipswich, July 24; Rhode Island, Providence, July 18, and Block Island, July 27; New York, Orient, July 24; New Jersey, Long Beach, July 7; Pennsylvania, Erie, August 29; Florida, Palma Sola, August 27; Paraguay, near Puerto Pinasco, September 6; and Patagonia, Orange Bay, September 9.
Late departures in the fall are: Mackenzie, Slave River, October 1; Saskatchewan, Eastend, September 12; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, September 21; Minnesota, Hallock, October 16; Iowa, Marshalltown, November 7; Ontario, Toronto, November 2, and Ottawa, November 5; Ohio, Columbus, October 28, and North Lima, October 29; Ungava, Koksoak River, October 20; Baffin Island, Pangnirtung Fiord, September 25; Labrador, Battle Harbor, October 29; and Quebec, Montreal, October 31; Maine, Lake Umbagog, October 14, and Bangor, October 23; Massachusetts, Lynn, October 12, Boston, October 22, Harvard, October 24, and Cape Cod, November 10; Connecticut, Branford, October 23, and East Hartford, October 30; New York, Ithaca, October 16, Quogue, October 30, Shinnecock Bay, October 30, Oneida Lake, November 3, and Canandaigua, November 4; Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, October 10, and Erie, October 29; District of Columbia, Anacostia, October 24; Virginia, Lake Drummond, November 5; Ohio, Columbus, November 15; North Carolina, Church's Island, October 7, and Raleigh, December 7; South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, October 17, and Frogmore, October 24; Georgia, Savannah, October 9; and Florida, St. Augustine, December 2.
Casual records.—Although probably on the migrational highway, records of the white-rumped sandpiper in Central America, the West Indies, and Lesser Antilles are so few that in these places it can only be considered as a casual visitor. Specimens are in the British Museum from Lion Hill, Panama; Momotombo, Nicaragua; and Tizimin and Cozumel Island, Mexico. It also has been observed or taken on the islands of Barbados (September 20 and 22, year?); Dominica (November 5, 1904); St. Lucia; Guadeloupe; Martinique; Trinidad; Porto Rico (Mayaguez, October 2, 1900, and Culebrita, April 15, 1912); Cuba; the Bahamas (Inagua, May 27, 1879, and Fortune Island, August 5, 1876); and the Bermuda Islands. Examples were reported from the Yellowstone River, Montana, August 8 to 13, 1878; it has been taken at Laramie, Wyo.; in New Mexico (Fort Fillmore, October, 1852, and Zuni Mountains, September 16, 1851); and there are several records for eastern Colorado. The specimen reported from Oakland, Calif., was probably the Pectoral sandpiper, P. maculata. One was taken at Hopedale, Labrador.
White-rumped sandpipers have been reported in the British Isles fourteen or fifteen times and a specimen was taken in Franz Josef Land on June 28 (year unknown, but prior to 1898).
Egg dates.—Arctic Canada: 14 records, June 15 to July 24; 7 records, June 30 to July 12. Alaska: 2 records, June 25.
Spring.—This sandpiper belongs to that class of birds which Abel Chapman (1924) so aptly terms "globe spanners," for on its migrations its traverses the whole length of both American continents twice a year. From its wintering grounds in Patagonia it must start north even earlier than the preceding species or else it must travel faster. Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) observed it migrating past Buenos Aires on March 5 in company with white-rumped sandpipers, and it has been known to reach Texas early in March. From there its course seems to be northward between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. A.G. Lawrence tells me that it passes through Manitoba between April 28 and May 29; and J.A. Munro gives me, as his spring dates for southern British Columbia, April 30 to May 10. Prof. William Rowan (Mss.) calls it extremely abundant in Alberta about the middle of May and usually gone by the 24th. It is very rare east of the Mississippi in the spring. E.A. Preble (1908) saw large flocks foraging on floating ice at Lake Athabaska on May 25. Dr. Joseph Grinnell (1900) records it at the Kowak River, Alaska, on May 20. Joseph Dixon (1917) says:
On May 31, 1914, at Griffin Point, Arctic Alaska, the first pair of Baird sandpipers for the season were noted feeding along the rim of a frozen tundra pond. The weather had turned bitterly cold during the previous night, and as a result the newly formed ice on the ponds was thick enough to support a man. Strictly speaking, there was no night at this date, for the two months of continuous daylight had already begun; so in a short time the sandpipers were bustling about picking up the mosquito and other pupae which were being washed out by a newly-born stream that gurgled under the snow and ice on its way down to the frozen lagoon.
Courtship.—Two somewhat different accounts of the courtship of this species have been published. W. Sprague Brooks (1915), who found this bird breeding at Demarcation Point, Alaska, writes:
Only once did I note any courtship activity. On this occasion (May 24), the male would fly a few feet above the female, while she rested on the ground, with quick erratic wing strokes suggesting a nighthawk. Frequently he would alight and raise the wings high over the back as a gull does before folding them. Then with the forearms perpendicular, the primaries would be slowly raised and lowered like a pump handle, generally lowered to right angles with the forearms, sometimes lower. Not a sound was uttered.
Alfred M. Bailey (1926), whose observations were made at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, says:
Cutting down the opposite side of the ridge, I heard many calls which reminded me of home in the early spring, for the combined totals sounded like the singing of many little grass frogs in a meadow pond. It was the call, or rather the "spring song," of the Baird sandpiper. I soon flushed a little female, which fluttered away uttering cries of alarm. I concealed myself, and she soon returned, the male also hovering about, making his little froglike peep. At times he would rise high in the air, in the way so characteristic of male sandpipers, give forth his song, and sail down to perch.
Nesting.—MacFarlane's notes mention seven nests found in the vicinity of Franklin Bay, but very few data were given; "on June 24, 1864, a nest containing four eggs was found in the Barren Grounds, in a swampy tract between two small lakes, and was composed of a few decayed leaves placed in a small cavity or depression in the ground, shaded by a tuft of grass." John Murdoch (1885) says:
The nest was always well hidden in the grass and never placed in marshy ground or on the bare black parts of tundra, and consists merely of a slight depression in the ground, thinly lined with dried grass. All the eggs we found were obtained from the last week in June to the first week of July, a trifle later than the other waders. The sitting female when disturbed exhibits the greatest solicitude, running about with drooping, outspread wings, and loud outcry, and uses every possible wile to attract the intruder from the eggs. The nest is so well concealed and forms so inconspicuous an object that the only practical way to secure the eggs is to withdraw to one side and allow the sitting bird to return, carefully marking where she alights. Having done this on one occasion and failing to find the eggs, after flushing the bird two or three times I discovered that I had walked on the eggs, though I had been looking for them most carefully.
Mr. Brooks (1915) writes:
Two nests were found, each containing four eggs and about one quarter incubated on June 12 and 14, 1914. Murdoch found them nesting rather later than other waders at Point Barrow, but my experience at Demarcation Point was quite the opposite, for here they were the first to breed. A female taken June 2, had a fully formed and colored egg about ready to lay. Both of the above nests were on dry, well-drained tundra near the bases of knolls. The nests were like the other sandpipers, and lined with dry willow leaves, but the cavities were less deep than those of the semipalmated sandpiper.
The female was on one nest and the male on the other. The former left the nest when I was some distance away and flying directly toward me alighted within a few feet. While I was at the nest she walked hurriedly about close by constantly uttering a plaintive weet-weet-weet always repeated three times. Occasionally she would take a short flight about me and utter a note very similar to the rattling call of the pectoral sandpiper. The male when disturbed acted quite differently. He sat closer and on leaving the nest showed the greatest concern, dragging a "broken" wing in the most distressing manner. In neither case was the mate about as frequently occurs with the semipalmated sandpiper.
Mr. Dixon (1917) says:
At Griffin Point, less than 50 miles to the eastward of Demarcation Point, the first set of eggs (fresh) was taken on June 24. The last set was found July 11, with the four eggs nearly ready to hatch. Murdoch speaks of the nests being well concealed and always hidden in the grass. In those nests which we found, no attempt had been made at such concealment, as they were placed absolutely in the open, with nothing to cover or conceal the eggs at all, and the nests so shallow that the tops of the eggs were almost or quite level with the surrounding grass. Far from being conspicuously exposed thereby, however, the eggs were shielded from discovery in the most effective manner possible, for in color and markings they blended so perfectly with the brown tundra that a person could easily look directly at them from a distance of 6 feet and still not be able to see them.
This method of nesting seems to be the most effective way of escaping one great danger at least, namely, the notice of the countless jaegers, both parasitic and pomarine. These robbers subsist almost entirely during the breeding period on the young and eggs of other birds, and cruise continually back and forth over the sandpipers' nesting ground, looking for the least telltale feather, bit of wind-blown down, or other object which might afford a clue to the whereabouts of a nest.
Herbert W. Brandt found only one nest of the Baird sandpiper near Hooper Bay, Alaska, which he tells me—
Was on a dry mossy ridge amid the dunes and was partially concealed by the surrounding curly grass. It was flimsily constructed of grass stems and filled with a scant handful of small leaves of the dwarf birch and blueberry, together with a few adjacent reindeer-moss stems. The measurements of this nest were: Inside diameter 2½ inches, and depth perhaps 2 inches.
Eggs.—The Baird sandpiper lays ordinarily four eggs, occasionally only three. These vary in shape from ovate or ovate pyriform to subovate, and they have a slight gloss. In color they often resemble certain types of western sandpipers' eggs, as they are usually of a decidedly reddish tone; but they are considerably larger. The ground color varies from "pinkish buff" to "pale pinkish buff" or from "olive buff" to "cartridge buff." Three quite different types are represented in my collection. In the western sandpiper type the "pinkish buff" ground color is quite evenly covered over the whole egg with small, elongated spots, somewhat thicker at the larger end and having a spiral tendency, of "Hay's russet" and "chestnut brown," with a few underlying spots of "brownish drab." Another set has a "cartridge buff" ground color, which is unevenly covered, chiefly at the larger end, with small spots of duller browns, "bister," "Saccardo's umber," and light shades of "brownish drab." This seems to be the commonest type. An unusually beautiful set has a "pinkish buff" ground color, sparingly sprinkled with minute brown dots and boldly blotched with great, irregular splashes of deep, rich browns, "chestnut," "chocolate," and "liver brown," overlying large splashes of various shades of "vinaceous gray." The measurements of 54 eggs average 33.1 by 23.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 33.5 by 24.4, 34.3 by 24.6 and 30 by 22 millimeters.
Young.—Incubation is shared by both sexes, but we have no data as to its duration. Mr. Dixon (1917) found the male bird covering the eggs more often than the female, and others have reported finding the male caring for the young. Mr. Dixon (1917) says of the young:
The young sandpipers were found feeding in the shallower pools, where the water was less than 1 inch deep. At times as many as five were noted in an area 1 yard square. They congregated along the water's edge, picking up, as the tide slowly receded, many bits of food. The nature of this provender I could not make out, although the young birds would often come within 20 feet of me when I remained motionless for a few minutes. The old birds were much more shy, often taking flight or retreating to distant gravel bars upon my approach. Considerable time was spent by both young and old in making short flights about the harbor. These flights alternated with periods of food getting, and were seemingly in preparation for the fall migration. It was only a few days then until the bulk of the species left on their southward journey.
Plumages.—The downy young Baird sandpiper is well colored to escape detection on the brown tundra moss. The crown and upper parts are variegated with black and "tawny" in an irregular pattern and dotted with white terminal tufts; the crown is centrally "tawny," with a median black stripe, and is bordered with black; the forehead, back to eyes, sides of the head and all under parts are pure white; there is a black spot in the center of the forehead, a black stripe from the bill, through the eye, to the occiput and another below it and parallel to it; there is a white superciliary stripe and some white mottling on the back of the head and neck.
The juvenal plumage is equally concealing. The crown is sepia with buffy edgings; the back and scapulars are dark sepia with broad white edgings; the wing is like the adult except that the coverts and tertials are edged with "pinkish buff" and tipped with white; the under parts are like the adult but the breast is more pinkish buff and more faintly streaked. A partial postjuvenal molt, including most of the body plumage and some of the scapulars, wing coverts, and tertials and takes place in October or later. I have seen birds in full juvenal plumage as late as October 3; young birds migrate in this plumage. At the first prenuptial molt the following spring young birds become indistinguishable from adults.
Adults have a partial prenuptial molt in April and May, including only part of the body plumage. The postnuptial molt begins in July, when the body plumage is molted before the birds migrate; the wings are molted after the birds reach their winter home, from December to February, not long before they started to migrate north again. I have seen birds in full nuptial plumage as early as May 1 and as late as July 29, and in full winter plumage as late as April 5. The adult nuptial and winter plumages are somewhat different; the colors are brighter and richer in the spring and the markings are more distinct; in the fall the upper parts are nearly uniformly buffy brownish with dusky shaft streaks; the chest and sides of the breast are dull brownish buff and not distinctly streaked.
Food.—Preble and McAtee (1923) found in the stomachs of three Baird sandpipers, taken on the Pribilof Islands, amphipods, algae, ground beetles, and a weevil. Mr. McAtee (1911) includes this species among those that eat mosquito larvae, crane-fly larvae, grasshoppers, and the clover-root curculio, all injurious insects. It feeds on the open mud flats with other species of sandpipers, but seems to prefer to feed about the edges of the shallow inland pools or where the muddy flats are partially overgrown with grass. William Brewster (1925) watched some of them feeding, of which he says:
On first noticing me draw near they stood erect, with upstretched necks, regarding me intently and distrustfully, but their feeding operations were resumed soon after I ceased to advance. By successive runs, 8 or 10 feet in length and often executed very swiftly, they moved about quickly in various directions over soft mud or through shallow water, frequently stooping to pick up small morsels of food, but not once using their bills for probing under ground or water.
Voice.—Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1905) says that the note, which he heard several times, seemed to him "exactly like that of the semipalmated sandpiper, a rather shrill, trilling whistle." Mr. Brewster (1925) says that—
the kreep call they utter in flight is sufficiently unlike that of any other wader of similar size and general coloring to be of service as a means of field identification when the birds are seen on wing. It is appreciably different from the call of any other sandpiper known to me, although not so very unlike that of the sanderling.
Field marks.—The Baird sandpiper is one of the most difficult of all this group to recognize in the field, because it has no prominent distinguishing field marks peculiar to itself. It has characters in common with any one of several small sandpipers. In color and general appearance it is most like the least sandpiper; it is decidedly larger, but size is of little value unless the two are side by side for comparison; it is lighter colored above, more extensively buffy on the breast, and has darker legs. It is a size larger than the semipalmated and western sandpipers, more buffy on the breast than either, and has a shorter bill in proportion to its size than the latter. It is about the size of the white-rumped sandpiper, but is less distinctly streaked on the crown and back; the buff breast of the Baird will distinguish it when standing or even in flight; and the white rump of fuscicollis is a sure flight mark when visible. From the red-backed sandpiper, about the same size, it can be distinguished by its shorter and straighter bill and by marked color differences. It might be mistaken for a female pectoral, but the latter is more conspicuously striped above, more like a snipe in this respect, the crown is darker, more contrasted, and the breast is darker, more abruptly separated from the white belly, and more sharply streaked with dusky; when flying the pectoral shows more white in the wings. The Baird is but slightly smaller than the buff-breasted sandpiper and very much like it; but Prof. William Rowan (MSS.) has pointed out some differences. The patterns of the backs are very similar, but the buff breasted has a much paler crown and lacks the white throat and eye stripe, as well as the clear-cut white sides and black center of the rump of the Baird. The buff breasted has yellow legs and the Baird has black. The Baird shows no white in the wings in flight. Young Bairds in juvenal plumage are easily recognized by the scaled appearance of the mantle produced by dark feathers with broad white edges.
Fall.—Baird sandpipers leave their northern breeding grounds rather early. Mr. Murdoch (1885) reported the last one seen at Point Barrow on August 12, and Mr. Dixon (1917) saw none after August 15 in northern Alaska. E. A. Preble (1908) saw several flocks on migration at Great Slave Lake as early as July 10.
The main flight seems to be directly south through the Mackenzie Valley and between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River to Mexico and South America, where it probably migrates down the west coast to its winter home. But the route is also extended both east and west in the fall. Some birds fly southeastward, through the Great Lakes, to the coast of New England, whence they apparently migrate over the ocean to South America. Others migrate southward through the extreme western States.
Mr. Brewster (1925) says that they "visit Lake Umbagog (Maine) early in September, appearing oftenest during the first week in the month." My Massachusetts dates run from August 7 to September 15. E. W. Hadeler records it in his Ohio notes from September 2 to October 11; and Edward S. Thomas has seen it there as early as August 12. It is an abundant migrant in Manitoba; we collected adults there on July 29; and C. G. Harrold tells me that birds passing through in August and September are practically all juveniles. Professor Rowan refers to it as probably the most plentiful wader in Alberta in the first half of September; he has taken it there as late as November 8. J. A. Munro calls it a regular fall migrant at Okanagan Landing, British Columbia; his earliest and latest dates are July 16 and September 18. J. H. Bowles (1918) observed it on the Tacoma Flats, Washington, from July 26 to September 5, and says:
They were found in singles, pairs, or trios, most often associating with the semipalmated plover (Aegialitis semipalmata) when any were to be found. When flying with a company of the other small sandpipers they would separate as soon as the flock alighted to feed, the Baird's going to comparatively dry ground for their food while the others waded about in the water and at the water's edge. They could not have been called common, but from one to three or four were to be found on almost any day.
John T. Nichols has observed Baird sandpipers on the Pacific Ocean and writes to me as follows:
August 6, 1926, 52° 19' N., 137° 42' W., three to six birds of this species came about a ship bound southeast for Seattle, flying with and parallel to her course. One, apparently misjudging her speed, was killed by striking the rigging forward. Perhaps the Baird sandpiper is comparatively scarce on the Pacific coast due to an offshore migration route.
Winter.—According to Prof. Wells W. Cooke (1912) this sandpiper reaches its winter home in September. Chile seems to be its principal winter home, where it has been taken repeatedly in the high mountains at 10,000 to 12,000 feet and once at over 13,000.
Range.—Northeastern Asia and North and South America; accidental in England.
Breeding range.—North to the northeastern coast of Siberia (probably Koliutschin Island and Cape Serdze Kamen); northern Alaska (Wainwright, Point Barrow, Camden Bay, Barter Island, and Demarcation Point); Yukon (Herschel Island); Mackenzie (Franklin Bay, Baillie Island, and Cambridge Bay); and southern Baffin Island. East to Baffin Island and probably Greenland (Etah). South to Mackenzie (Cambridge Bay, Bernard Harbor, Fort Anderson, and Peel River); and Alaska (Cape Prince of Wales and Point Dall). West to Alaska (Cape Prince of Wales and Point Dall); and northeastern Siberia (probably Koliutschin Island).
Winter range.—North to Chile (Tarapaca); and Argentina (Tucuman, Cordoba, and Buenos Aires). East to Argentina (Buenos Aires). South to Argentina (Buenos Aires); and Chile (Talcahuano). West to Chile (Talcahuano, Huasco, and Tarapaca).
Spring migration.—In spring the Baird sandpiper is practically unknown on the Atlantic coast, the route being up the Mississippi Valley, the plains States, and (to a lesser degree) the Pacific coast. Early dates of arrival are: Missouri, Monteer, March 20, and near Boonville, April 16; Ohio, Painesville, April 25, Oberlin, April 28, and Cleveland, May 8; Michigan, Vicksburg, April 15; Iowa, Sioux City, April 9, Mason City, April 19, and Marshalltown, April 25; Minnesota, Waseca, May 10, and Hutchinson, May 18; Texas, Boerne, March 16, and Electra, April 9; Kansas, Emporia, March 27; Nebraska, Gibbon, March 19, Lincoln, March 23, and Callaway, April 7; South Dakota, Forestburg, April 6, and Brown County, April 18; North Dakota, Jamestown, May 1, and Charlson, May 4; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 9, and Orestwynd, May 10; Mackenzie, Fort Resolution, May 19, Fort Simpson, May 20, and Fort Providence, May 26; Arizona, Fort Verde, May 5; Colorado, Loveland, March 29; Wyoming, Cheyenne, April 8, and Laramie, April 23; Montana, Knowlton, May 12, and Bitterroot Valley, May 18; Alberta, Flagstaff, April 16, Alliance, April 24, and Fort Chipewyan, May 24; California, Santa Barbara, April 27; Washington, Dayton, April 11; British Columbia, Chilliwack, April 29, and Okanagan Landing, April 30; and Alaska, Admiralty Island, May 12, Kowak River, May 20, Demarcation Point, May 23, Nulato, May 27, Cape Prince of Wales, May 28, and Point Barrow, May 29.
Late dates of spring departure are: Mexico, city of Mexico, May 19; Guerrero, Iguala, June 1; Ohio, Youngstown, June 2; Michigan, Detroit, May 24; Iowa, Sioux City, June 6; Texas, San Angelo, May 15, and Ingram, May 26; Kansas, Wichita, May 20; Nebraska, Neligh, May 26, and Valentine, May 30; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 24, and Sioux Falls, June 11; North Dakota, Charlson, May 22, and Jamestown, June 4; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, June 2, and Quill Lake, June 16; Wyoming, Yellowstone Park, June 3; Alberta, Fort Chipewyan, June 1; and British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, May 10, Vaseaux Lake, May 18, and Sumas, May 19.
Fall migration.—Early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, July 7; Washington, Wrights Peak, July 21, Blaine, August 4, and Tacoma, August 6; California, Santa Barbara, July 25; Lower California, San Jose del Cabo, September 3; Alberta, Strathmore, July 31; Wyoming, Toltec, July 27; Colorado, Denver, July 21, Boulder County, July 27, and El Paso County, July 29; Saskatchewan, Maple Creek, July 17; Manitoba, Oak Lake, July 12, and Red Deer River, July 23; South Dakota, Forestburg, July 25; Nebraska, Callaway, August 4, and Lincoln, August 9; Texas, San Angelo, July 20; Ontario, Toronto, July 28; Michigan, Charity Island, July 9; Ohio, Bay Point, July 3; Illinois, Chicago, July 2; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, July 14; New York, Montauk, August 14, Locust Grove, August 18, Onondaga Lake, August 27; Pennsylvania, Beaver, August 21, Erie, August 22; Mexico, Zacatecas, August 16, Colonia Garcia, September 4, and Janos River, September 5; and Patagonia, Arroyo Seco, Rio Negro, September 6, and Huanuluan, September 12.
Late dates of fall departures are: Alaska, Point Barrow, September 4; British Columbia, Comox, September 15, and Okanagan Landing, October 18; Washington, Tacoma, September 27; Oregon, Netarts Bay, September 12; California, Monterey, October 24; Colorado, Boulder County, September 25, and Barr, October 5; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, September 21; Manitoba, Oak Lake, September 5, and Shoal Lake, September 14; North Dakota, Charlson, September 21; Nebraska, Valentine, October 10, and Lincoln, November 3; Kansas, Lawrence, October 26; Texas, Tom Green and Concho Counties, October 20; Iowa, Burlington, October 2, and Keokuk, October 14; Ontario, St. Thomas, October 3, Toronto, October 10, and Plover Mills, October 20; Ohio, Painesville, October 11, and New Bremen, October 28; Illinois, Chicago, October 2; Missouri, Independence, October 13; Maine, Warren Island, September 20, and Bangor, November 1; Massachusetts, Cambridge, October 30; Connecticut, West Haven, October 28, and Stratford, November 3; New York, Shinnecock Bay, October 31, and Canandaigua, November 20; and Pennsylvania, Erie, October 6.
Casual records.—The Baird sandpiper has several times been taken or observed in various parts of Mexico so that it seems reasonable to believe that at least a part of the birds migrate over that country. In other Central American countries and in the West Indies it is rare. Among the records are: Costa Rica (Cerro de la Candelaria, October 1900, Volcano Irazu, June 8, 1894, La Estrella de Cartago, November 5, 1907, and San Jose, September 18); and Cuba (Cocos Island). It also has been detected on the Galapagos Islands (Barrington Island, October 6, 1897); Lesser Antilles (Dominica, October 1, 1904); Virginia (Four-mile Run, September 3 and 25, 1894); New Jersey (Stone Harbor, September 5, 1898); Quebec (Montreal, September 17, 1892); New Brunswick (St. Andrews, September 10, 1901); and England (Rye Harbor, Sussex, November 11, 1900).
Egg dates.—Alaska: 27 records, June 9 to August 24; 14 records, June 19 to July 2. Arctic Canada: 20 records, June 10 to July 21; 10 records, June 19 to 26.
Contributed by Charles Wendell Townsend
This least of all our sandpipers is so little smaller than the semipalmated sandpiper and differs so slightly from it in other ways that the two are generally confused in life. Their small size, and their notes have given them the familiar name of "peep," but near New York they are also called "oxeye." Who has not been gladdened by the sight of flocks of these gentle little birds scampering along the beach or diligently feeding in the tidal flats and in the salt marshes!
Spring.—The duration of the spring migration is much more brief than that of the autumnal one. The birds are hastening to their breeding grounds and the least sandpiper is only a month in passing through. In New England this is from about May 5 to June 7. At this time the birds are more apt to be found on the beaches than in the fall, although they are found in greatest abundance in the marshes.
Courtship.—The most noticeable part of the courtship of the least sandpiper is the song. I have observed it on the breeding grounds in Nova Scotia and in Labrador, as well as during the spring migration in New England. The bird springs up into the air on quivering, down-curved wings and circles about, now lower, now higher, reaching at times a height of 50 or more yards. In the air it emits a short sweet trill which is rapidly repeated, and with each song burst the wings are rapidly vibrated. On one occasion in Labrador the bird remained in the air circling and repeatedly trilling for five minutes by the watch, and continued to trill after it had reached the ground. Immediately it was up again, trilling, and, as I left the bog, it followed me, still trilling.
This courtship song has been described at great length and with much appreciation by Robert T. Moore (1912) from intimate studies made by him on five nesting birds in the Magdalen Islands, and he has recorded these songs in musical notation. He ranks it high among bird songs and dwells on its tremulous and pathetic qualities. He observed one that rendered its entire song from the ground within a foot of his hand. "It consisted of a series of trills, which ascended just one octave on a minor chord. The tone quality was pure and sweet and rendered pathetic by the minor chord, which served as its medium." He says of the records he made of the flight songs of three birds that—
Each in its notes, progressions, and even time is totally different from the others, yet, without sight of the bird, I would instantly recognize them as songs of the least sandpiper. This is due to the fact that the quality of tone is constant in all, being pure and sweet, the tempo is aways extremely fast, the notes being delivered with great rapidity, and the pitch high. Trills and runs are characteristic and make an additional recognition quality.
All these observations were made on birds that were both incubating and singing. On one occasion only did he see two birds together.
This flight song piped overhead and was sung over and over again with a tremulous zest. Alternating with it, was repeated for long intervals an excited call of two notes. We glanced up and for the first time beheld two adult least sandpipers together. Alternately they flapped and soared and circled about in rapturous fashion. For several minutes the alternation of song and call continued without break of any kind. Sometimes the song was given three times consecutively and followed by as many as 30 or 40 repetitions of the call, this in turn to be followed by the song again.
W.E. Saunders (1902) has recorded the courtship as observed by him at Sable Island. He was there between May 16 and 23, too early for nesting. He says: "I found them invariably in pairs, evidently mated, and often sitting so close together that two could be obtained at a single shot if desired." To his ear the song notes resembled somewhat those of the spotted sandpiper. He says of the courtship flight:
Sometimes both birds would be in the air at once, but whether the female gave the note as well as the male, I could not definitely ascertain without shooting the birds, which I was very loath to do. The note would be given continuously for perhaps three or four minutes, during which time the bird flies slowly with steady flapping of the wings, mounting in the air gradually until, when watching them in the evening, one loses sight of them in the gloom.
Nesting.—The least sandpiper makes its nest either in wet grassy or sphagnum bogs close to a pond or tidal water; or on dry uplands, often among low bushes. In either case the nest is a simple affair. P.B. Philipp (1925) describes its method of construction as observed by him in the Magdalen Islands:
The bird picks out a spot in the wet moss of a bog or in the dry leaves of a ridge, and scratches a shallow hollow in which it sits, and, by rapidly turning, molds a depression of the required depth. Which of the pair does this I have never determined, but the other bird is usually present, standing close to the nest-builder and offering encouragement by a low, rapid twittering.
The nest depression in the moss is generally lined with dry leaves, although these may be very few in number, and a little dried grass. The internal dimensions of the nest as given by Audubon (1840) are: Diameter, 2½ inches; depth, 11/4 inches.
J. R. Whitaker writes, in his notes on these birds at Grand Lake, Newfoundland, that the nest is nearly always amongst a labyrinth of pools of water, and is usually on the side or the top of a hummock of sphagnum moss, but I have found them on flat ground amongst reindeer moss. When on a moss hummock, the scratch is about 2 inches deep and there is always an inch or so of material in the bottom usually composed of cranberry leaves and short bits of cotton grass stems.
Eggs.—[Author's note: Four eggs is the rule with the least sandpiper. They vary in shape from ovate pyriform (the usual shape) to subpyriform, and they have only a slight gloss. The ground colors vary from "deep olive buff" to "pale olive buff," or from "pale pinkish buff" to "cartridge buff." There are two extreme types of markings, the boldly blotched and the finely sprinkled type, with many intergradations between them. Some eggs are more or less evenly covered, usually more thickly about the larger end, with a mixture of dots, small spots, and small, irregular blotches. In some the blotches are larger, more elongated, often spirally arranged and often confluent at the larger end. In still others the whole egg is evenly covered with very fine dots and small markings. There are two sets from Labrador of the latter type in my collection; one has a pinkish ground color, covered uniformly with a fine sprinkling of reddish brown markings, exactly like certain eggs of the western sandpiper; the other set is similarly marked, but the ground color is "olive buff" and the markings are in darker browns. At the other end of the range of variation I have a particularly handsome egg, which has an "olive buff" ground color, with a few large splashes of "vinaceous drab," overlaid, chiefly around the larger end, with a few great splashes of "liver brown," "chestnut brown," and "bone brown." The ordinary markings are in various shades of dark, rich browns, "bay," "liver brown," "chestnut," and "hazel," deepening to blackish brown where the pigment is thickest. The underlying spots are in pale shades of "vinaceous drab." The measurements of 65 eggs in the United States National Museum average 29 by 21 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure 31 by 21, 30 by 22, 26.5 by 20, and 28 by 19 millimeters.]
Young.—Incubation is believed to be performed largely by the male. Mr. Philipp (1925):
Collected four birds from the nests and all proved to be males on dissection. Also a bird which was accidentally stepped on while it was shielding four young or "downies" was a male. In fact, after the eggs are laid both birds are seldom seen around the nest. The incubating bird is most solicitous about its nest. It sits very closely and, when flushed, half runs, half flutters for a few feet as if trying to lead the intruder away. If you are not deceived by these actions but remain quiet, the bird soon returns and walks daintily about, uttering a quickly repeated peep, peep, peep, often with such vehemence that the saliva fairly runs from its bill.
Mr. Moore (1912), however, shot a bird which he thought was both incubating and singing, and it proved to be a female.
Sometimes both parents show solicitude for the young as in the following case in the Yukon region, reported by Dr. Louis B. Bishop (1900):
I came upon a female surrounded by four downy young. Both parents tried time and again the well known wounded-bird tactics to lure me from the spot where the young were hidden in the bunches of grass, and finding this a failure, would circle around me only a few yards off, uttering a plaintive twitter.
Plumages.—[Author's note: The tiny chick of the least sandpiper is prettily colored as are the young of all the tundra nesting species. The upper parts, crown, back, wings, and thighs, are quite uniformly variegated with rich browns, "bay," "chestnut" and "Sanford's brown," through which the black basal down shows in places; this is spotted irregularly, from crown to rump, with small round spots, terminal tufts, of yellowish buff. The forehead and sides of the head and neck are pale buff, with narrow, black frontal, loral and malar stripes. The under parts are pure white.
Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they arrive here in August and generally do not show much signs of molting before they leave here in September. This plumage is darker and more richly colored above than in the spring adult; the feathers of the crown, back, scapulars and all wing coverts are broadly edged with rich, bright browns, "hazel" or "cinnamon rufous," broadest and brightest on the back and scapulars; some scapulars are tipped with white; the throat is often faintly, but sometimes not at all, streaked with dusky. A partial postjuvenal molt in the fall, involving the body plumage and some of the scapulars and tertials, produces a first winter plumage which can be distinguished from the adult by the retained juvenal wing coverts, scapulars, and tertials. At the first prenuptial molt the next spring young birds become indistinguishable from adults, except for some of the old juvenal wing coverts.
The complete postnuptial molt of adults begins in August and is mainly accomplished after the birds have migrated. At a partial prenuptial molt, mainly in April and May, the adult renews the body plumage and tail and some of the tertials and wing coverts. Adults in spring are more brightly colored, with more rufous and buffy edgings, and the breast is more distinctly streaked than in fall.]
Food.—These birds appear to be feeding on small crustaceans and worms on the beaches and on insects and their larvae in the marshes. It is to be hoped that with the increase of the birds the pest of green-head flies and of mosquitoes in the salt marshes may diminish. E. A. Preble (1923) examined two stomachs from birds shot in the Pribilof Islands and found that one of them contained amphipods exclusively, the other the following items: "23 seeds of bottle brush (Hippuris vulgaris), 50 per cent; bits of hydroid stems, 40 per cent; and chitin from the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis), 10 per cent." A. H. Howell (1924) reports as follows: "Of the 19 stomachs of this bird collected in Alabama, practically all contained larvae or pupae of small flies (Chironomidae) in a few bits of aquatic beetles were found." Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1916) found in the stomach of a bird taken in Porto Rico "the heads of more than 100 minute fly larvae (75 per cent) and fragments of small beetles (Hetercerus sp.) (25 per cent)."
Behavior.—The least sandpiper has always been a confiding and an unsuspicious bird, and these characteristics have increased since it has been protected at all seasons. So diligent are they in their search for food that they appear to take no notice of man if he remain quiet, and they run about almost at his feet. They are fascinating birds to watch. Not only are they gregarious, collecting in large and small flocks on the migrations, but they are also of a sociable disposition and associate amicably with other shore birds, large and small. They run around among yellow legs like pigmies among giants. A mixed company of several kinds of sandpipers and of plovers feeding together is a common sight. In flight the different species, although in company, generally, but not always, keep by themselves.
In the marshes—which are their preferred feeding grounds, although, as stated above, they are sometimes found on the beaches, especially in the spring—they scatter widely, and one may flush one bird after another, previously unseen in the grass. They soon unite in a flock, however, and after circling about and turning now this way, now that, with great nicety of evolution, drop down again suddenly, often near the spot from which they sprang. A single bird flushed generally darts off in irregular zigzags, very much after the manner of a Wilson snipe, calling as it goes.
In feeding in marshes they frequent the short grass and also the open sloughs or mud holes. Here they snap up insects or probe diligently for larvae in the mud and shallow water. They are fond of the mud and sand flats in the tidal estuaries at low water where they appear to find plenty of food, and they run about on the eel grass. In all these places they spread out in an irregular fashion when feeding. Such gluttons are they that they are generally loaded with fat on the southward migration and they are often very fat in the spring. Notwithstanding this, their wind seems to be excellent and their flight as swift. They are fond of bathing like most birds, and of this Mr. Nichols writes in his notes as follows:
It squats in shallow water, ducking the head under, throwing the water back and fluttering the wings, and at the end of the bath jumps an inch or two into the air with a flutter, apparently to shake the water out of its feathers. Afterwards it usually stands quietly and gives its plumage a thorough preening.
Voice.—The nuptial song has been described under courtship, but the bird has also a variety of call notes from a simple weep or peep, from which, doubtless, it gets its common name, to a succession of notes more or less complicated. John T. Nichols (1920) has written at length on the voices of shore birds, and has kindly furnished the following for this article:
The identification flight-call is a loud diagnostic kreep, distinguished by the ēē sound from any note of the semipalmated sandpiper.... In flushing, a least sandpiper sometimes utters a string of short unloud notes with or without the ēē sound, quee-quee-quee-que or queque to be followed almost immediately by some variation of the flight call, as it gets more fully under way. The flight note varies down to a che and cher, not readily, if at all, distinguishable from similar calls of the semipalmated sandpiper.... When a flock are up and wheeling about a feeding spot to alight there again almost at once, they have sometimes a confiding little note chu chu chu chu, etc. It has also a whinny, a little less clearly enunciated than that of the semipalmated but almost identical with the same.
Field marks.—The small size of the least sandpiper distinguishes it readily from all the other sandpipers in this country except the semipalmated, with two exceptions to be noted later. As the least is more frequently found on tidal flats in the estuaries and in salt marshes, it is sometimes called the "mud peep," while the semipalmated, which especially delights in the sand beaches is called the "sand peep." Unfortunately this rule, although of general value, is far from absolute, and the birds often exchange places. The least sandpiper is more often found on the beach in the spring than in the fall. The semipalmation is, of course, a diagnostic mark in the hand, but only under exceptional circumstances can it be seen in the field. The color of the tarsus, however, is distinctive and can be made out in favorable light at a considerable distance. I have always thought it absolutely distinctive, but the published descriptions and plates of these two birds are often inaccurate. I have, therefore, compared the legs of both these species, freshly collected, with Ridgway's (1912) "Color Standards and Color Nomenclature." In the semipalmated sandpiper the tarsi of the adults are black and this is also the case in the juvenals except that there is a slight greenish tinge to be seen on close inspection. In the adult least sandpiper the tarsi are distinctly yellow with a faint greenish cast. They correspond best to the sulphine yellow of Ridgway, while the toes, which shade off a little darker, are citrine. In the juvenal, there is more of a greenish tinge, and I have put the tarsi down as oil yellow, the toes shading into yellowish oil green. In deciding on these colors I have had the advice of an artist. The richer brown plumage of the back and the darker streakings and wash of the breast help to distinguish the least from the lighter and grayer semipalmated bird, but in the fall these distinctions are less marked in the adult. Even at this season, however, a least sandpiper on the beach in a flock of semipalmated stands out by its browner colors, and, in the marsh, a semipalmated in a flock of least looks very gray. The least sandpiper is a little smaller than the other bird, but this character as well as the color of the plumage are of slight value without the presence of both birds for comparison.
Another point, which at times can be satisfactorily made out in the field, is that the bill of the least sandpiper is slightly decurved, while that of the semipalmated is straight and stouter. It has been noted by Coues (1861) and by others independently, that the least sandpiper is a perfect miniature of the pectoral sandpiper even to the color of its legs. The great difference in size, however, prevents any confusion.
Two other sandpipers, referred to above, may, however, be mistaken for least or semipalmated sandpipers, although they are somewhat larger. Gunners at Ipswich used to call them "bull peep." I refer to the white-rumped and the Baird sandpipers. The white rump of the former is diagnostic and is easily seen in flight, but is generally covered by the wings when the birds are running on the sand. The plumage of both Baird and white-rumped sandpipers is dark in front of the bend of the wing, while in the semipalmated and juvenal least it is light. This is a fine point that I have found of great value.
Fall.—The last migrant for the north has scarcely gone before wisps of returning sandpipers appear. The regular northward migration in Massachusetts ceases about June 7, although an occasional nonbreeding bird may remain, and the migrants begin to return about July 4. A surprisingly large number of early fall migrants appeared at Ipswich on July 3, 1911. A flock of at least 50 whirled about and alighted near me on the marsh. One must suppose that the early migrants in the spring are the early ones to return in the fall. They are generally all gone from the New England coast by the end of the first week in September, although stragglers may be found in October. They migrate both by day and by night.
Carl Lien writes in his notes from Destruction Island, Washington, that the least sandpiper—
Constitutes, with the western sandpiper, the great body of migratory birds, and if the nights are a little misty the numbers that circle around the light at night resemble a snow storm, and they continue until daybreak when they apparently get their bearings, and continue their journey. The spring movement begins about the middle of April or a little later, and lasts until about the 10th of May, beginning again the first week in July and lasting until the middle of September.
Game.—Fortunately this bird has been removed from the list of game by the Federal law, and we may be sure it will never be replaced. In the absence of larger birds—too frequently the case—the gunner used to shoot these tiny birds in large numbers, and it must be admitted they were delicious eating. At his blind near a slough or mud hole in the salt marshes he would arrange his flock of tin or wooden decoys, generally made to represent yellow-legs, within easy reach of his gun, and he would call down with his tin whistle any passing flock. A projecting spit of mud extending out into the little pool afforded a convenient alighting place for the "peep," and their death trap, for here they could conveniently be raked by gun fire from the blind. The terrified and bewildered survivors spring into the air, and circling about over their dead and dying companions afford several more effective shots, which shower the victims down into the mud and water. Only a remnant of the flock escapes, to fall victims, perhaps, to their easy credulity at a neighboring blind. Sometimes the gunner in his greed would wait for the birds to bunch together closely on the spit, but before this took place to his satisfaction the alarm calls of a tattler or yellow-legs might ring out over the marsh and every bird would spring into the air and be off, much to his chagrin. Fortunately this destruction has not been carried too far. The law has stepped in before it is too late, as alas! may be the case with some of the larger shore birds. The increase of this species since the Federal law went into effect in 1913 is very striking. Mr. Philipp (1925) says there is "a large increase in this dainty shore bird. In 1907 an exhaustive search for breeding birds in the Magdalens resulted in finding 11 pairs. In 1923 in the same territory over 50 pairs were located with eggs or young."
Range.—North and South America; casual in Europe and Asia.
Breeding Range.—The least sandpiper breeds north to Alaska (Cape Blossom and the Kowak River); probably Yukon (Herschel Island); Mackenzie (Peel River, Fort Anderson, Rendezvous Lake, and Franklin Bay); southern Franklin (Cambridge Bay); Keewatin (Cape Fullerton); Labrador (Ramah); and Newfoundland (Quarry and Gaff Topsail). East to Labrador (Ramah, Okak, and Nain); Newfoundland (Quarry); and Nova Scotia (Sable Island). South to Nova Scotia (Sable Island); Quebec (Magdalen Islands); Keewatin (probably Fort Churchill); probably Saskatchewan (Isle de la Crosse); southern Mackenzie (probably Fort Simpson); southern Yukon (Teslin River and Lake Marsh); and southern Alaska (probably Gustavus Bay, and probably Kodiak). West to Alaska (probably Kodiak, Nushagak, Lake Aleknagik, and Cape Blossom).
Winter Range.—North to California (San Francisco Bay, Owens Lake, and Salton Sea); rarely Arizona (Mellen); Texas (Lomita and Decatur); rarely Louisiana (Vermilion Bay); Alabama (Dauphin Island); and rarely North Carolina (Pea Island). East to rarely North Carolina (Pea Island); South Carolina (near Charleston); Georgia (Savannah, Darien, and St. Marys); the Bahama Islands (Abaco, New Providence, San Salvador, Acklin, and Great Inagua Islands); probably the Lesser Antilles (St. Christopher); French Guiana (Cayenne); and Brazil (Para, Pernambuco, and Bahia). South to Brazil (Bahia and Cuyaba); and Peru (Chorillos and Tumbez). West to Peru (Tumbez); Ecuador (Santa Elena); the Galapagos Islands (Indefatigable Island); Costa Rica (La Estrella de Cartago and Puntarenas); Honduras (Chamelicon); Guatemala (Lake Atitlan and Chiapam); Jalisco (Zapotlan, La Barca, and Guadalajara); Sinaloa (Mazatlan); Lower California (San Jose del Cabo and Carmen Island); and California (Santa Barbara and San Francisco Bay).
Spring migration.—Early dates of arrival are: Virginia, Back Bay, April 18; District of Columbia, Washington, April 19; Maryland, Cambridge, May 1; Pennsylvania, Mercer County, April 18, Butler, April 27, Cataract, May 2, Erie, May 8, and Pittsburgh, May 9; New Jersey, Cape May, April 4, Caldwell, April 7, Princeton, April 30, and Camden, May 4; New York, Orient, April 21, New York City, April 25, Auburn, April 29, Canandaigua, May 4, and Rochester, May 9; Connecticut, Saybrook, May 3, and New Haven, May 8; Massachusetts, Woods Hole, April 23, Ipswich, April 24, Rehoboth, April 29, and Monomoy Island, May 6; Vermont, St. Johnsbury, May 6; Maine, Saco, May 5; Quebec, Quebec City, April 28, and Godbout, May 12; Nova Scotia, Halifax, April 20; Kentucky, Bowling Green, April 23, and Lexington, May 7; Missouri, Courtenay, April 1, Corning, April 5, and Independence, April 15; Illinois, De Kalb, April 6, Rantoul, April 9, and Milford, April 13; Indiana, Jeffersonville, April 5, Richmond, April 21, and Fort Wayne, April 22; Ohio, New Bremen, April 19, Painesville, April 30, and Oberlin, May 5; Michigan, Vicksburg, April 30, Battle Creek, May 3, and Detroit, May 4; Ontario, Listowel, May 3, Toronto, May 4, Hamilton, May 8, and Ottawa, May 10; Iowa, Marshalltown, April 25, Emmetsburg, April 27, and Forest City, April 30; Wisconsin, Beloit, April 18, Whitewater, April 28, and Madison, May 7; Minnesota, Lake Wilson, April 18, Heron Lake, April 24, and Waseca, April 30; Kansas, McPherson, April 9, Lawrence, April 24, and Wichita, April 28; Nebraska, Lincoln, March 21, Valentine, April 6, and Alda, April 10; South Dakota, Huron, April 8, Vermilion, April 20, and Pitrodie, April 22; North Dakota, Stump Lake, April 28, Jamestown, May 1, and Grafton, May 3; Manitoba, Gimli, May 6, and Shoal Lake, May 15; Saskatchewan, Orestwynd, May 7, Indian Head, May 12, and Dinsmore, May 14; Mackenzie, Fort Providence, May 15, Fort Simpson, May 17, and Fort Resolution, May 19; Colorado, Durango, April 12, Loveland, April 19, and Barr, April 26; Utah, Bear River Marshes, May 10; Wyoming, Cheyenne, April 23, and Laramie, April 23; Montana, Great Falls, April 16; Alberta, Carvel, May 6, and Flagstaff, May 9; Oregon, Narrows, April 16, Newport, April 21, and Klamath Lake, April 30; Washington, Tacoma, April 28, and Grays Harbor, April 30; British Columbia, Comox, April 20, Chilliwack, April 21, and Courtenay, April 22; and Alaska, Craig, May 2, Juneau, May 4, Bethel, May 6, and Kowak River, May 15.
Late dates of spring departure are: Porto Rico, Laguna de Guanica, May 26; Cuba, Mariel, May 10, and Santiago de las Vegas, May 14; the Bahama Islands, April 25; Florida, Punta Rassa, May 13, and St. Marks, May 28; Alabama, Bayou Labatre, May 16; Georgia, Savannah, May 17; South Carolina, Lady Island, May 12, and Aiken, May 14; North Carolina, Lake Ellis, May 18, and Raleigh, May 22; Pennsylvania, Erie, May 24, and Beaver, May 28; New Jersey, Bernardsville, May 20, Bloomfield, May 23, and Elizabeth, May 30; New York, Pine Plains, May 30, Rochester, May 31, and Orient, June 4; Connecticut, Norwalk, May 30, and New Haven, June 5; Massachusetts, Dennis, June 2, Harvard, June 9, and Pittsfield, June 16; Vermont, St. Johnsbury, June 6; New Hampshire, Manchester, June 3; Maine, Fryeburg, May 30, and Lewiston, June 6; Kentucky, Lexington, May 23; Chicago, May 23, and Port Byron, June 15; Indiana, Greencastle, May 26, and Lake County, June 1; Ohio, Columbus, May 21, Oberlin, May 23, and Youngstown, June 11; Michigan, Detroit, May 23, Sault Ste. Marie, May 26, and Manchester, May 29; Ontario, Listowel, May 23, Point Pelee, May 30, London, June 1, and Brighton, June 10; Iowa, Sioux City, May 30, Forest City, May 31, and Keokuk, June 2; Wisconsin, Berlin, May 24, Tomahawk, May 27, and Green Bay, June 4; Minnesota, Elk River, May 23, and Walker, June 6; Texas, Seadrift, May 8, Ingram, May 10, and San Angelo, May 16; Kansas, Emporia, May 15, Wichita, May 18, and Lawrence, May 21; Nebraska, Peru, May 15, Neligh, May 16, and Badger, May 18; South Dakota, Forestburg, May 21, Huron, May 23, and Yankton, May 25; North Dakota, Cando, May 24, and Charlson, June 1; Manitoba, Margaret, June 4, Reaburn, June 15, and Shoal Lake, June 20; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, May 23, and Osler, June 19; Colorado, Fort Lyon, May 29, and Barr, June 19; Wyoming, Cheyenne, May 27; Montana, Terry, May 21, and Great Falls, June 3; Alberta, Flagstaff, June 1; Tepic, Las Penas Islands, May 5; Lower California, Rivera, April 21, and Gardners Lagoon, April 23; California, Santa Barbara, May 10, Alameda, May 13, and Los Angeles, May 19; Oregon, Newport, May 20; Washington, Chelan, May 21, and Seattle, May 31; and British Columbia, Okanagan Landing, May 19.
Fall migration.—Early dates of fall arrival are: British Columbia, 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.
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.
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.