528 HUTCHINSS GOOSE.
narrow membrane, third the longest, fourth considerably shorter, but
longer than second; all reticulated above at the base, but with narrow
transverse scutella towards the end ; the three anterior connected by reticulated
webs, the outer with a thick margin, the inner with the edge more
dilated. Claws small, arched, rather compressed, except that of the middle
toe, which is bent obliquely inwards and depressed, with a curved edge.
Plumage close, blended on the neck and lower parts of the body, compact
on the upper. The feathers of the head and neck very narrow, of
the back very broad and abrupt, of the breast and belly broadly rounded.
Wings long; primaries strong, curved, the second longest, but the first
and third almost as long, the rest rapidly graduated ; secondaries long,
rather narrow, rounded. Tail short, slightly rounded, of sixteen rounded
feathers.
Bill, feet, and claws black. Iris brown. Head and two upper thirds
of the neck glossy black. A large subtriangular patch of white on each
side of the head and neck. The general colour of the upper parts is
brownish-grey, the feathers margined with paler ; of the lower parts pale
greyish-brown, margined with yellowish-grey; the abdomen and lower
tail-coverts white ; the hind part of the back brownish-black. The primary
quills and tail-feathers are deep brown.
Length to end of tail 25 inches, extent of wings 50 ; wing from flexure
1 6 | ; tail 5 | ; bill along the back !£, along the edge of lower mandible
1£; tarsus 2£; middle toe 2, its claw 4
. Weight 4£ lb.
T
2 In the Fauna Boreali-Americana, the tail-feathers are stated to be
fourteen. In my specimen they are sixteen, and it is probable that the
full number is eighteen, as the two middle ones seem to be wanting.
9ttJftK)3
S C H I N Z S SANDPIPER.
TRINGA SCHINZII, BREHM.
P L A T E C C L X X V I I I . MALE AND FEMALE.
ALTHOUGH I have met with this species at different times in Kentucky,
and along our extensive shores, from the Floridas to Maine, as well as on
the coast of Labrador, I never found it breeding. Indeed, I have not
met with it in the United States excepting in the latter part of autumn
and in winter. Those procured in Labrador were shot in the beginning of
August, and were all young birds, apparently about to take their departure.
My drawing of the two individuals represented in the plate was
made at St Augustine in East Florida, where I procured them on the 2d
December 1831. I have always found these birds gentle and less shy than
any other species of the genus. They fly at a considerable height with
rapidity, deviating alternately to either side, and plunge toward the ground
in a manner somewhat resembling that of the Solitary Sandpiper. When
accidentally surprised, they start with a repeated weet, less sonorous than
that of the bird just mentioned. They search for food along the margins
of pools, creeks and rivers, or by the edges of sand-bars, and mix
with other species.
TRINGA SCHINZII, Ch. Bonaparte, Synops. of Birds of the United States, p. 249—
Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 6 9 . pi. 24. fig. 2. Winter Swains, and Ricliards. Fauna
Bor. Amer. part. ii. p. 384.
SCHINZ'S SANDPIPER, Nuttatt, Manual, vol. ii. p. 1 0 9 .
Adult Male in winter. Plate CCLXXVIII. Fig. 1.
Bill about the length of the head, slender, subcylindrical, straight,
compressed at the base, the point slightly enlarged and rather obtuse.
Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, excepting at the tip, the
ridge narrow and convex, broader and flattened towards the end, the sides
sloping, the edges rather obtuse. Nasal groove extending to near the tip ;
nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and
extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides sloping outwards, the
tip a little broader than that of the upper.
Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Neck of moderate length.
VOL. in. L 1