194 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OP 



made of the webbed feet. The remarks made in this article, under the head cf 

 Ereunetes pusillus, will, it is hoped, show that thj name pusilla was originally 

 used in a very different connection, and hence cannot be employed for the pre- 

 sent species. Bonaparte, as early as 1825, seems to have been aware that the 

 T. pusilla of Linnaeus was not the bird given under that name by Wilson ; for 

 in his Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson's Ornithology, on the sub- 

 ject of T. semipalmata, Wils., he gives as a reason for not adopting pusilla for 

 that latter species, that "several species have been confounded together under 

 the name of T. pusilla; and although the present (T. semipalmata, Wils.) is the real 

 species, it would be adding to the existing confusion to change the most appro- 

 priate name of semipalmata, given by the author who first separated the species, 

 in order to apply a name generally given to another, to which in that case we 

 ought to give a new name." In 1834, Nuttall applied the name Wilsoni to a 

 species whose manners and habits he described so accurately that there can be 

 no doubt of its referring to the bird now under consideration, though he, too. 

 fell into the error of quoting T. cinclus dominicensis minor, Briss. This name 

 Wilsoni being supposed to be the only one hitherto applied to the species, 

 (except of course pusilla, untenable for the reason already given,) is the one in 

 general use among more modern ornithologists. In view of the existing con- 

 fusion, it is with great reluctance that I adopt still another name for this 

 species ; but the Tringa minutilla of Vieillot points so unmistakeably to the 

 present bird, that a strict adherence to the laws of ornithological nomenclature 

 renders this necessary. This author (page 466 of the Nouv. Diet.) says : " Le 

 nom que j'ai conserve a cet oiseau est celui sous lequel il est connu dans nos 

 colonies d'Amerique, et qui lui a ete impose d'apres sa petite taille . . . . il a des 

 rapports avec le tringa minuta de Leisler . . . . je l'ai souvent vu a Halifax, et 

 dans la Nouvelle-Ecosse .... comme les tringas becos," (T. semipalmata, 

 Wils.?) "se comport de rneme, il en est resulte qu'on les a confondus en- 

 semble." There is no North American Sandpiper but the present remarkable 

 for its diminutive size, and having relationships with the T. minuta, Leisl., that 

 is found in Nova Scotia, except the T. semipalmata, Wils., with which, as the 

 author remarks,* it is sometimes confounded, from a general similarity in 

 habits and appearance. The description given applies well; and in some par- 

 ticulars, such as the length (quatre pouces dix lignes) and the proportions of 

 the bill, ("noir, tres-grele, et long de neuf legnes; les tarses de la meme lon- 

 geur,") can refer to no other North American Sandpiper. 



From these considerations therefore I adopt the name minutilla, at least until 

 some weightier reasons be adduced to disprove the position assumed. 



Actodromas (Actodromas) Bairdii Ooues. Baird's Sandpiper. 



Tringa (Actodromas) Bonapartei, Cassin, Gen. Rep. 722. In part. 



Sp. Char. Form and proportions typical of the genus. Bill small, slender, 

 rather shorter than the head, equal to the tarsus, the tip scarcely expanded, its 

 point very acute. Grooves in both mandibles very long and deep, that of the 

 lower very narrow. Feathers extending on the side of lower mandible much 

 farther than those on the upper, about half as far as those between the rami. 

 Wings long; first and second primaries about equal, but varying, third 

 much shorter; tertials long, slender, flowing. Tail rather long, but slightly 

 doubly emarginate, the central feathers rounded, projecting but little. Toes 

 long, slender, slightly margined, the middle with its claw about equal to tarsus. 

 Adult in breeding plumage. Entire upper parts a very dark brownish black, 

 deeper on the rump and lighter on the neck behind, each feather bordered and 

 tipped with light reddish yellow ; on the scapulars the tips broader and nearly 

 pure white, and the margins brighter, making several deep indentations towards 



* If, as is probably the case, " le beco " be the T. semipalmata, Wils. 



[July, 



