rapidly, and generally fly nfear the surface of the water. in . a
straight line; and d uring thé day, only short distances. Th-Oif
/fleàh,thou-gb:escnIén^^ means palatable, being ton fishy .:
they grow amazingly fat in autumn, though their fût is not firm,
but very oily? < Thej&are caught howeveT.dn;’Italy by spreading
nets oh their feeding grounds* and in the United States great
muplbeW' are dSËjferoyed by the gun.
Spread over a ll the globe,/ some- of the species even, the Sandpipers
are very diflicult -to distinguish’ from one another, marked
traits being few, and detailed descriptions applying - mostly., to
individual specimens. The species; hsfcve been wantonly multiplied
by >siutp©rfieial Observes^, and too much reduced perhaps1 by seiesa-
tific men. We-^saust chiefly rely on the relativ^Kimensions of
the bill and the length, ofcthe tarsus in fixing them.. - In North
jLmçiÉea are found a t . least ten of : the subgenus. Tringa, mos^mf
which ’ thaU has eight : the Pectoral
Sandpiper-Is the oidy ^^oeÆêsiiês^the -21 jpusilla óf those Amèrwan
registered in our- Synm&ist that is mot found in Europe.
.This new speciesflthough it is quite as large, if not larger than
the -THnga alpina has 'fphortëMnll ; which, is besides reddish at
base* •distihguisbing it m ujnf^from all the species i t .could > be
confounded with, sinee»each of them has the bill entirely black :
the fT . maritima- qnd ■'£. plafa/rfajficu lh&vè a similarly coloured bill,
but are otherwise too/well markedftobe mistaken; the former
by the restricted naked «pace'of the tibia, and the latter by the
depressed foim of-its ,bill.,
• The Pectoral Sandpiper is eight and a half inches long, some
.females being nearly nine : the bill is little inore' than an inch
long, compressed .throughout, reddish'yellow at base, the rest
black, and with a . few Snipe-l&e punctures near the tip;- The
crown of the head is black, each feather margined with rufous :
the orbits* a line over Die eye,. add the forehead narrowly are
Whitish, minutely dotted with*-blackish; the itfides* are dark :
paMftSs frearn ï-the eyib 4o- th e ' upper
mandible: the eifi^eks,-neck abqvé^sides-ofstóte neck, and beneath
down to the- breast -are grayish with a rufous- tinge, and- beautifully
streaked with blackish, :accupying the mmMe óf I each feather,
alóng uhe shaft: sux^undéjïinnd Well d e llld ^ n perfect .specimens,)
by these rnamtmgs the/thnoat /aud chiM afle of a» pumér
iashAte. than in. other Trin’gse: the remaining, lower parts from
f i e breast to the lower tailim-vert-s, including iftjbb1 flanks and
long jtxillary feathers afe. white, the base of the plumage dark
plumbeeu£, and‘ a few- blackish streaks- along thé shafts of some
of. the Rank and vent fCathers : the feathers of - .the neck, above,
owing to the circumstance of the, blackish cen|É|al line widening
considerably, -become gradually dusky, the feathers thfete being
iMrely bordered.iwith thegrayishbufF. The inters capular regie®;, .
flip scapulars and' small wing-cóvefts are shining blaekr witill
grtyBiish reflections; t-hey arfe| margined with ferruginous»,, amf
near; the;^exterior .tips, with Vhhisj^ManKicwer part the -back;
the rump, and the upper tefl-covej|lfSpefPr black and,without
margins,. The wings are five iricra^Hmg)1- Knead with .whiter
which predominates on- the under wmg^lfverts-: these are however
a.little Varied with blackish and gray s-the, primaries are dusky
as well as the outer wing-coverts, and are slightly edged with
whitish : tfah/ehaft »ohftbe .'Outer quill», is.whiH»’3;';^- the others
entirely dusky: the first primary is longest, and after me second
they decrease rapidly.. -The tail is two inches to. the tip of the
lateral feathers, and a, quarter .of an inch more to. thC/tjp of the
middle- ones, which are longest by that much, and somewhat»
tapering, and are'black edged with rufous, while the others are
pale dusky, margined with white ail around the tip. The feet
are greenish yelïów, the bare space above the knee five-eighths of
an inch: the tarsus very nearly one inch, and equal to*t'he middle