ALA><KA. 183 



the base, witli very loii^' nasal Ibssii', reacliin^^ to witliiii i inch 

 of the tip. ami deep at the base; the groove of the uikUt iiiaii- 

 dibh.' coextensive in length, bnt Hnear thron<;liout. Feathers 

 on side of under niandil)le exten(bn^- beyond those on the 

 ui)per ; the interranial feathers projecting- still a litth^ ways 

 farther. Legs very short, (much as in Trimja marltlma;) tibial 

 feathers reaching nearly or quite to the snffrago; tarsus shorter 

 thau the bill, or than the middle toe and claw. Wings and 

 tail as usual throughout the genus. 



A coronal area, the upper back, interscapular region and 

 scapulars black, completely variegated with rich chestnut- 

 brown, paler ochery browu and whitish, the body of each 

 feather being black, vrith one or another or all of these various 

 edgings ; the coronal separated from the interscapular mark- 

 ings by a grayish-white, dusky-streaked cervical interval. 

 Lower back and rump and upper tail-coverts blackish brcjwu 

 or grayish black, only varied with an occasional chestnut edged 

 feather. Wing-coverts grayish browu, with narrow white edg- 

 ing, the greater with broad, definite white tips. Secondaries 

 nearly all pure white, a few of the outermost, and innermost 

 also, with grayish-brown touches near the end. Primaries 

 grayish brown with white shafts, except at tip, and fading to 

 white on the inner webs toward the base ; several of the inner- 

 most, also, largely white on the outer web, and with definite 

 white tipping. Central tail-feathers brownish black- next pair 

 abruptly paler, grayish; the rest white, or nearly so, with a 

 faint gray tint. Front and sides of head, superciliary line, 

 the tufts of flank-feathers, and entire under parts, white, inter- 

 rupted on the breast with a large but not perfectly continuous 

 nor well-defined blackish area, and marked on the upper breast 

 and sides with a few narrow, sharp, blackish shaft-lines, a 

 dusky auricular patch. Legs and bill dark. Length, appar- 

 ently about 9.50 inches ; wing, about 5; tail, 2.50; bill, 1.10 

 to 1.40 ; tarsus, .90 to 1.00; middle toe and claw, 1.05 to 1.20. 

 • The sexes are not distinguishable by any outward mark. We 

 have before us no specimen incomplete fall-plumage ; but one 

 taken June 9, still retaining at that date the past season's 

 plumage, for the most part, enables us to predicate the 

 autumnal and winter vesture. The difference is entirely anal- 

 ogous to that seen in various other sandpipers. It consists in 

 the great development and intensity of the chestnut edgings of 

 the feathers of the upper part, to the restriction of their black 

 fields, and to the exclusion, nearly complete, of the pale ochery 



