112 BIRDS. PRESSIROSTRES. Squatabola. 



front, below the eyes, sides of the breast and thighs, white; nape varied with 

 brown, black, and white. Back black, with white spots. Quills black, the 

 inner webs more or less white, and the same colour prevailing from the fifth 

 on the outer webs. The long feathers at the base of the wing, underneath, 

 black. Under and upper tail-covers white, with oblique black bands. In 

 winter the plumage beneath is white, with cinereous brown spots on the neck 

 and sides ; above a brownish-black prevails, with yellowish spots, and edged 

 with ash-grey. Female like the male. — Eggs 4, olive, with black spots. 

 Young spotted below, above tinged with grey ; the bands on the tail are grey. 

 — This species frequents the sea-shore during the winter season in small 

 flocks. I have reason to believe that it breeds in the high grounds of the 

 Mearns. 



Before proceeding to give the characters of the few native birds of that di- 

 vision of Pressirostres with only three toes, it is proper to notice two strag- 

 glers. 



1. Cursorius Isabellinm. Cream coloured Courser — Temm. Orn. ii. 513. — 

 This species is a native of Africa, rarely visiting Europe. Three instances 

 only have occurred of its having been killed in England. The first at St Al- 

 bans, in Kent, at the seat of William Hammond, Esq. who presented it to 

 Dr Latham. The second was shot in North Wales in 1793, by Mr George 

 Kingston of Queen's College, Oxford. The third is stated in Atkinson's 

 Compendium of British Ornithology, p. 1G5, as having been shot near We- 

 therby in April 1810. 



2. Himantopus Plinii. Long-legs — Will. Orn. 219 — Charadrius Himanto- 

 pus, Linn. Syst. 1. 255 — Himantopus melanopterus, Temm. Orn. ii. 528 — 

 Sir Robert Sibbald appears to have first recorded the occurrence of this bird 

 in these islands, Scot. III. 18. tab. xiii. fig 2., an individual having been ex- 

 amined by him which was shot at a lake near the town of Dumfries ; where a 

 second example was shortly afterwards killed. Mr White states, that six in- 

 dividuals of this species were observed at Frinsham Pond, near Farnham, 

 Surrey, (Nat. Hist. Selborne, ii. 42.) Pennant states, that one was shot at 

 Stanton Harcourt Common, near Oxford, (Brit. Zool. ii. 476.) The last oc- 

 curred to Mr Davies of Aber, killed in Anglesea, (Nat. Miscellany, tab. 195. 

 Mont. Orn. Diet. Supp.) The species frequents Africa, Asia, and eastern 

 Europe. 



Gen. LXXIV. CALIDRIS. Sanderling. — Bill depressed, 

 and enlarged at the point. Nasal grooves produced. 



162. C. arenaria. Common Sanderling. — The two middle 

 tail-feathers, bill, irides, and feet, black. 



Arenaria, Will. Orn. 225 — Tringa ar. Linn. Syst. i. 251 — Sanderling 



Plover, Penn. Brit. Zool. 480 — Cal. ar. Temm. Orn. ii. 524 — E, Cur- 



willet, Towwilly, Waddergall ; W, Llwyd y tywod — Common on the 



coast. 



Length 8, breadth 15 inches ; weight 2 ounces. Bill about an inch in 



length, weak and flexible. Face and crown with black spots, edged with red 



and white. Neck and breast cinereous red, spotted with black. Above, the 



plumage is black, with white edges ; wing-covers dusky, with zig-zag lines of 



red ; belly white. Quills dusky, the secondaries white towards the base. 



The tail-feathers becoming more cinereous from the two dark middle ones. 



In winter the plumage below is white, and above cinereous, with dusky 



streaks. Female like the male — Nest unknown. The young have the dusky 



plumage of the back, with yellowish borders, and spots of the same colour ; 



and the breast with waved dusky lines — This species occurs in small flocks 



