SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — LIMOSA. 253 



in May, but a few are seen in June. Some arrive late in August, but most of tliem in 

 September. After October they become conspicuous by tlaeir liglit color. Up to a 

 short time before their departure they continued in compact flocks, but in May they 

 became more dispersed, and were seen in pairs chasing each other over the sand. 



Specimens of this bird were taken in Bermuda by Major Wedderburn from the 

 4th of September to the 7th of November. According to Mr. Hurdis, it is not known 

 to have occurred there later than the 10th of jSTovember. Several individuals of this 

 species were obtained by jNIr. J. A. Allen at Ipswich, Mass., in June, 1868 ; they were 

 in immature plumage, and were mere straggling, unmated birds. 



On the Pacific coast the Sanderling was not observed by Dr. Coojjer along the 

 southern part of the coast of California, but from San Francisco north it was found 

 numerous in winter ; and though a few remain throughout the summer, none are 

 supposed to breed there. Its food on the Pacific coast, and indeed wherever the con- 

 tents of its stomach have been observed, appears to be slender sea-worms, minute 

 shellfish, Crustacea, and fine gravel. Farther north — as Mr. Dall states — it was 

 procured at Sitka by Bischoff, is very common at ISTulato, and on the Yukon to the 

 sea, where it arrives early, from May 10th to the loth, and is one of the last birds 

 to leave in the fall, having been seen by him in October on the edge of the ice. Ken- 

 nicott found them in the interior, along the beach at Lake Winnipeg in June, where 

 they were in small flocks and numerous. Mr. MacFarlane discovered a nest of this 

 species — the only one at that time known to naturalists — on the Barren Grounds, 

 June 29, 1863. The female was secured, and the nest found to contain four eggs 

 which were quite fresh. The nest is said to have been composed of hay and decayed 

 leaves. It was obtained not far from the Arctic coast, a little east of Anderson 

 River. The two eggs in the Smithsonian Collection (No. 9383) measure, one 1.44 

 inches in length by .95 in breadth ; the other, 1.43 by .99. Their ground-color is a 

 brownish olive, marked with faint spots and small blotches of bistre. These mark- 

 ings are very generally diffused, but are a little more numerous about the larger end. 

 They are of an oblong pyriform shape. 



Genus LIMOSA, Bkisson. 



Limosa, Brisson, Orn. 1760 (type, Scolopax liviosa, L., = »S'. cegocephala, L.). 



Char. Bill lengthened, exceeding the tarsus, slender, and ciirving gently upwards, grooved to 

 near the tip, the tip not attenuated. Tarsus with transverse scutellae before and behind, reticulated 

 laterally. A short basal membrane between the middle and outer toes. Tail short, even. 



Bill mucli longer than head, nearly ec[ualling tarsi and toes together, ciirving gently upwards 

 from the base, where it is elevated and compressed, depressed, however, at the end. The grooves 

 on sides of bill and beneath extend nearly to the tip ; the tip of the upper mandible is thickened, 

 and extends a little beyond the lower. The gape is slight, not extending beyond the base of the 

 culmen ; the feathers on the side of the liill reach forward to about the same point, those on the 

 chin a little farther. Tarsus more than one and one half times the toes, twice the bare part of the 

 tibia ; hind toe rather lengthened ; outer toe webbed as far as end of first joint, inner toe with only 

 a short basal web. Tail short, even, two-fifths the wings. 



In some respects, the bill of this genus resembles that of Macrorhamphus, the chief apparent 

 difference being the upward curve of the one and its straightness in the other. 



A. Wings without any well-defined white patch. 



a. Tail distinctly barred. 



1. L. fedoa. Prevailing color ochraceous, the head and neck streaked, the remaining upper 



