with descriptions of some new species of Invertebrata. 309 



Great Britain. It was noticed by Mr. Hoy in the first volume of 

 Charlesworth's 'Magazine of Natural History' as having been "shot 

 on the 25th of May 1836, on the muddy flats of Breydon Broad, Nor- 

 folk, in company with some dunlins and ring plover." In a locality 

 of a similar nature — the oozy banks of Belfast bay — a Tringa platy- 

 rhyncha was killed on the 4th of October 1844, at the same shot 

 from a swivel-gun with eleven golden plover and seven or eight 

 dunlins. 



It is a male bird, and larger than the English specimen, but of 

 about equal size with that described by Temminck. It is as fol- 

 lows * : — 



in. lin. 



Length (stuffed specimen) 7 



of wing from carpus to end of quills 4 .Si 



• ■ of tarsus 11 



of middle toe and nail 10 



of hind toe and nail 3 



of bill from forehead to point 1 ^% 



Breadth of bill at base (now dried up) 2^- 



Height of bill from base of upper to that of lower mandible... 4 

 Tibia bare of feathers for about 4 



Temminck's descriptions (vol. ii. p. 616. 2nd edit.) of the plumage 

 of the young bird before its first moult and of the nuptial garb show 

 singularly little difference in a species belonging to this family, and 

 Mr. Yarrell having both the old bird in its breeding plumage and the 

 young bird of the year before him, remarks that ** the young bird so 

 closely resembles the parent in its plumage at this season that it is 

 unnecessary to describe it." My specimen agrees with the descrip- 

 tions of these authors, excepting in what the ornithologist will be 

 prepared to expect of a bird killed in the month of October — that 

 the rufous tints throughout the plumage (margining the feathers, 

 &c.) have all but disappeared, and are replaced by white. The 

 winter plumage I have not seen described, but fortunately the pre- 

 sence of a few winter feathers on the back and wings of the present 

 specimen sufficiently indicate that a change from black to gray, ana- 

 logous to the seasonal change which takes place in the dunlin, like- 

 wise occurs in this species. The hue of these feathers however 

 resembles more the pretty gray colour of the phalarope than the pale 

 brownish gray of the dunlin — or purre, as it has been termed in 

 winter garb. 



The broad bill and the peculiar marking of the head are the most 

 obvious distinctive characters of this species. The dimensions of the 

 bill have already been given : the plumage of the head may be thus 

 described — from base of upper mandible to top of head a narrow 

 blackish brown band, which broadens towards the hinder part of the 

 head ; on either side of this from the bill to the upper part of the 

 eye, and continued over it is a white streak, bounded by a dark 



* The taxidermist noted the specimen before being skinned to be in 

 length 6| inches, breadth 13 inches ; weight 1 oz. A\ drachms. 



