NATURAL SCIENCES OP PHILADELPHIA. 183 



both Tringa and Charadrius, and a genus Calidris formed for its reception. In 

 1811, Illiger called the bird C. arenaria, which is the name generally employed 

 by ornithologists since that date. Audubon, however, in all his works retains 

 the species in Tringa. I have found but two instances of the use of Arenaria 

 calidris, Mey., which are those given in the list of synonyms. Calidris tringoides 

 of Vieillot is undoubtedly the present bird, as is also (fide Gen. Rep ) the C. 

 Americana of Brehm. 



ARQUATELLA Baird. 

 Arquatella, Baird. Gen. Rep. 1858, 714. Typus Tringa maritima, Briinn. 



Char. Bill variable, always longer than the head, straight or slightly de- 

 curved, very slender, much compressed, tip scarcely expanded. Groove in 

 lower mandible shallow, sometimes nearly obsolete. Wings long, pointed. 

 Tail moderate, cuneiform. Tibial feathers very long, covering the joint. 

 Tarsus extremely abbreviated, much shorter than the bill or middle toe. Toes 

 very long, broadly margined and flattened beneath. Hind toe very short; claws 

 short and blunt. 



In the remarkably abbreviated tarsus, much surpassed by the long toes, in 

 the lengthened tibial feathers, cuneiform tail and slender compressed bill, Ar- 

 quatella constitutes perhaps the most marked section of the Tringece, and one 

 well worthy of full generic rank. Indeed it is a little remarkable that it was 

 not earlier separated from the other allied genera. By most authors it has been 

 considered as a true Tringa, and placed in close connection with T. canutus. 

 Bonaparte, however, gives it as a Pelidna, though Cuvier, in establishing that 

 genus, retains it in his Calidris, (of 1817 = Tringa proper.) Besides its striking 

 peculiarities of form, the colors of the single species is very different from that 

 of any other known Sandpiper. The name Arquatella is Pallas's specific appel- 

 lation of the bird. 



Arquatella maritima (Briinn.) Baird. Purple Sandpiper. 



Tringa maritima, Briinnich, Orn. Bor. 1764, 54. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1788, i. pars 



ii. 678. Latham, Ind. Orn. 1796, ii. 731. Pennant, Arct. Zool. 1785, 481. 



Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. 1819, xxxiv. 471. Temminck, Manual, 1820, ii. 619. 



Lesson, Manual, 1828, ii. 283. Swainson, F. B. A. 1831, ii. 382. Nuttall, 



Manual, 1834, ii. 115. Jenyns, Manual, 1835, 211. Audubon, Orn. Biog. 



1835, iii. 558, tab. 284; id. Syn. 1839, 233; id. Birds Am. 1842, v. 261, 



tab. 330. Macgillivray, Man. Brit, Birds, 1842, ii. 67. Schinz, Eur. Faun. 



1840, i. 324. Schlegel, Rev. Crit. 1844, 88. Giraud, Birds L. I. 1844, 236. 



Dekay, N. Y. Fauna, 1844, ii. 237, tab. 87, fig. 98. Hollbol, Fauna Green. 



1846, 39. Degland, Orn. Eur. 1849, ii. 222. Gray, Genera, 1849, iii. 579. 



Parzudaki, Cat. Ois. Eur. 1856, 14. Meyer, Brit. Birds, v. 1857, 80. Nils- 

 son, Scand. Faun. 1858, ii. 235. 

 Pelidna maritima, Bonaparte, Comp. List, 1838, 49; id. Rev. Crit. 1850, 185 ; id. 



Cat. Met. 1842, 60. 

 ? Tringa striata, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat, 1766, i. 248. Latham, Ind. Orn. 1790, ii. 



733. Pennant, Arct. Zool. 1785, ii. 472. Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1788, i. pars 



ii. 672. 

 Tringa undata, Briinnich, Orn. Bor. 1764, 55. Latham, Ind. Orn. 1790, ii. 732. 



Gmelin, Syst. Nat. 1788, i. pars ii. 678. Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. 1819, xxxiv. 



470. 

 Tringa nigricans, Montagu, Linn. Trans. 1796, iv. 40, (fide Gen. Rep.) 

 Trynga arquatella, Pallas, Zoog. Rosso- As. 1811, ii. 190. 

 Tringa canadensis, Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. 1719, xxxiv. 453. 

 Tringa {Arquatella) maritima, Cassin, Gen. Rep. 1858, 717. 



Sp. Char. Form and proportions typical of the genus. Adult. Entire upper 

 parts a lustrous very dark bluish or blackish ash, with purple and violet 



1861.] 



