06 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Bartramia longicauda (Bechst.) 



BARTRAM'S SANDPIPER. 



Popular synonyms. Bartramian Tatler ; Field Plover; Upland Plover ; Prairie Plover. 



Tringa longicauda Bechst. Uebers. Lath. Ind. Orn. ii, 1812, 453. 

 Bartramius longicaudus Bonap. Rev. et Mag. Zool. xx, 1857, 59. 

 Bartramia longicauda Coues, Bull. N. O. C. Apr. 1880, 100; Check List, 2d ed. 1882, No. 



640.— Ridgw. Norn. N. Am. B. 1882, No. 555; Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 169.-B.B. &R. 



Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 296- A. O. U. Check List, 1886, No. 261. 

 Tringa bartramia Wils. Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 63, pi. 59, fig. 2.— Aud. Synop. 1839, 231; B. 



Am. v, 1842, 248, pi. 327. 

 Tringa {Euliga) bartramia Nutt. Man. ii, 1834, 168. 

 Totanus bartramius Temm. 1820— Sw. & Rich. P. B.- A. ii, 1831,391— Aud. Orn. Biog. 



iv, 1838, 24, pi. 303. 

 Actiturus bartramius Bonap. 1831.— Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858. 737.— Baibd, 



Cat. N. Am. B. 1859. No. 545— Coues, Key, 1872, 260; Check List, 1874, No. 438; Birds 



N. W. 1874, 502. 



Hab. Eastern Province of North America, migrating south to Brazil and Peru, and ex- 

 tending north to the interior of Alaska and to Nova Scotia. Breeds throughout its North 

 American range. Occasional in Europe. 



Sp. Chae. Bill about as long as the head, rather wide and flattened at base, slightly 

 curved at the tip; nostril with a large membrane; nasal groove long; wing long; tail long 

 for this group; legs moderate or rather long; lower half of the tibia naked; toes moderate, 

 the outer and middle united by a membrane, inner and middle free to the base, hind toe 

 small. Adult: Above, grayish brown, the feathers paler and more ochraceous toward 

 their edges, spotted and barred with black; head and neck (except throat) streaked with 

 blackish; crown blackish, divided by a mesial line of buff; throat, belly, and crissum plain 

 buff y white ; axillars pure white and clear dusky slate in regular bars of nearly equal 

 width; tail feathers (except middle pair) creamy buff, broadly tipped with white, crossed by 

 a broad subterminal black spot, and with a few irregular narrow bars anterior to this; 

 outer webs of primaries plain dusky slate, the inner webs with wide transverse bars of white 

 on the outer quill, on the others broken into a confused mottling. Rump and upper tail- 

 coverts nearly uniform blackish, the lateral feathers of the latter with their outer webs 

 partly white. Young: Similar to the adult, but the buff of the head, jugulum, wings, etc., 

 much deeper, the streaks on the foreneck and jugulum much less distinct, and the back 

 plain black, the feathers bordered with buff. "Bill yellowish green, the tip dusky, the 

 edges toward the base yellow; iris dark hazel; legs and tarsi light yellowish gray, toes 

 rather darker, claws brownish black". Downy Young: Above coarsely and irregularly 

 mottled with black on a grayish-white ground, tinged with light rusty. Lower parts buffy 

 white, with about thiec blackish spots on the flanks, one beneath the eye, a smaller one on 

 the lores, about half-way between the bill and the eye, and a large, nearly vertical, one 

 back of the ears. 



Total length, about 12 inches; wing, 6.50-7.00; culmen, 1.10-1.15; tarsus, 1.90—1.95; middle 

 toe, .90-1.05. 



To the residents of the prairie districts of our State, the "Up- 

 land Plover," or "Field Plover," as this bird is usually named, 

 is as familiar a bird as the Prairie Chicken or Meadowlark. 

 The following- observations by Mr. Nelson, will apply to almost 

 any portion of the State with reference to this species : 



