•««feer: *W. 1 i.r> 



''-_-=-*il?r';^ri ^-' 



WILSON'S SANDPIPER. 



(Tringa'^Wilsonu, Nobis. Little Sandpiper, (T. pusiUa.) Wilson. 

 (nee auct.) v. p. 32. pi. 37. fig. 4. Bona p. Synops. No. 255. Cin- 

 chis domlnicensis minor, Briss. v. p. 222. 13. t. 25. fig. 2. Phil. 

 Museum, No. 4138.) 



Sp. Charact. — Bill much shorter than the head, straight; rump 

 blackish ; the middle tail feathers longest, the lateral ones of equal 

 length with each other, dark ash-color, edged with white ; tarsus 

 about equal to the bill, 8 lines long. — Summer plumage blackish, 

 varied with rufous, beneath, except the breast, white. Winter 

 dress cinereous, beneath principally white. 



This small, and nearly resident species, may be consid- 

 ered as the most common and abundant in America, inhab- 

 iting the shores and marshes of the whole continent, both 

 to the north and south of the equator ; retiring probably, 

 with the inclemency of the season, indifferently, from either 

 frigid circle, towards the warmer and more hospitable re- 

 gions within the tropics. They are consequently seen, 

 spring and autumn, in all the markets of the Union, as well 

 B£ in those of the West Indies, Vera Cruz, and in the in- 

 terior as far as Mexico. Captain Cook also found them on 

 the opposite side of the continent, frequenting the shores 

 11 



