STILT SANDPIPER
233. Micropalama himantopus. 8.5 in.
Bill slender and only moderately long. In summer, the entire underparts are rusty-white, barred with blackish; ear-coverts and top of head browner; back mixed brown and black. In winter, they are gray above and whitish below, with the breast streaked with dusty. They seem to be one of the least abundant of our shore birds, single individuals being found in flocks of other species, rather than in flocks of themselves. They are usually more shy than the birds with which they are associated, perhaps because they lack companionship of their own kind. They have a musical whistle, not distinctive from that of many others of our small shore birds.
Nest.—The three or four eggs are laid in a hollow in the ground, usually in the grass back from the beach; eggs grayish, blotched with various, shades of brown.
Range.—Eastern North America, breeding in the Arctic regions and migrating through the United States to South America, chiefly on the Atlantic coast.
