236 PR.ECOCIAL GEALLATORES — LnriCOL^. 



black ; lateral upper tail-coverts white, streaked with dusky. Middle tail-feathers dusky, edged 

 with whitish ; other rectrices deep Ijrownish gray, distinctly bordered, witli white. A whitish 

 superciliary stripe, sharply defining the cinnamon of the crown ; juguluni very pale brownish gray 

 sparsely streaked laterally and anteriorly only ; remaining lower parts white, the sides with sparse 

 V-shaped markings, and the lower tail-coverts with streaks of dusky grayish. Young, first plum- 

 age : Above, chiefly bright rusty ochraceous, the feathers black centrally, the outer scapulars and 

 interscapulars edged terminally with white ; whole pileum bright ferruginous, broadly streaked 

 witli bhick, bounded shar])ly on each side by a white, finely streaked superciliary stripe ; rump 

 and middle upper tail-coverts brownish black, the feathers bordered terminally with rusty ; outer 

 upper tail-coverts white, with medial streaks of black ; middle tail-feathers black, edged laterally 

 willi rufous; other recti ices dusky, bordered with rusty whitish. Cheeks whitish, finely streaked 

 w ith dusky ; jugulum, breast, and sides, anteriorly, deep rusty buff, finely streaked anteriorly and 

 laterally with dusky ; remaining lower parts, including the throat, white, the lower tail-coverts 

 streaked with dusky. "Iris hazel; bill Idack at tip, changing to dingy greenish yellow on 

 basal third of lower mandible and base of upper; feet and tarsi dull greenish yellow" (Nelson, 

 MS.).i 



Wing, 4.90-5.50 ; culmen, .95-1.00 ; tarsus, 1.10-1.25 ; middle toe, .88-.95. 



This species resembles very closely the common A. maculata, but (lifters constantly in several 

 respects. As to proportions, the bill is decidedly shorter and more slender, and the tarsus slightly 

 longer, while the wing is about the same length. The middle tail-feathers are narrower and more 

 acuminate. The colors are nearly the same, but the rectrices are darker, the breast almost or quite 

 unspotted centrally and posteriorly, and the crown decidedly rufous. 



A specimen from New South Wales, which appears to be this species (No. 15313, U. S. Expl. 

 E.xp.), but labelled " Triiiga aurita (?), Lath.," differs notably from an adult from Australia, re- 

 ceived from Mr. J. E. Harting, in the following particulars : The posterior and lateral parts of 

 the breast have coarse, irregular markings of dark brown, many of these markings being V-shaped, 

 others irregularly sagittate or even transverse ; these markings are continued, but increased in size 

 along the sides to the crissum, and even the abdomen has a few small markings ; the crown is not 

 conspicuously rusty, neither is this color there bounded shai'ply by the light superciliary stripe. 

 Whetlier this specimen represents the same species, we are not tjuite prepared to say, not having 

 suHicient material at hand. 



Actodromas minutilla. 



THE LEAST SANDPIPER. 



Tringa minutilla, Yieill. Nonv. Diet. XXXIV. 1819, 452. — Coues, Key, 1872, 254 ; Check List, 



1873, no. 418 ; Birds N. W. 1874, 482. 

 Actodromas mirMliUa, Vm^kv. <^om\)i. Rend. 1856. — RiDGW. Nora. N.Am. B. 1881, no. 538. — 



CoiXES, Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 614. 

 Trinrja pusilla, WiLS. Am. Orn. V. 1813, 32, pi. 37, f. 4 (iiec Lixx.). — Sw. & Run. F. V>. A. II. 



1831, 386. — AuD. Orn. Biog. IV. 1838, 180, pi. 320 ; Synop. 1839, 237 ; B.Am. V. 1842, 280, 



pi. 337. 

 Tringa Wilsonu, Nutt. Man. II. 1834, 121. — Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 721. — Baikd, 



Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, no. 532. 

 Tringa nana, hicw v. Nomencl. 1854, 92. , 



" Tringa gcorglco:, Licnr."' (Gray). 



Hab. The whole of America, but breeding (so far as known) only north of the United States ; 

 accidental in Europe. 



Sp. Char. Adult, summer plumage : Back and scapulars black, the feathers bordered and 

 somewhat barred (not continuously, and mostly beneath the surface) with rusty ochraceous, the 

 tips of some of the feathers often whitish ; rump and middle upper tail-coverts brownish black ; 

 lateral upper tail-coverts white, with wedge-shaped markings of grayish ; middle tail-feathers 



1 SwiNHOE (" Ibis," 1863, p. 412) says: " Apicid linlf (if liill purplisli lilack, basal huff olive-brown, 

 with tinge of flesh-color ; legs yellowish olive, witli blaclc claws." 



