640 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOL^. 



in N. U. S. and northward, if not also through most of its U. S. range; winters altogether 

 or chiefly extraliniital. Abundant during the migrations ; a shy, quiet inhabitant of wet woods 

 and meadows and secluded pools, rather than of the marshes. Eggs still (1888 !) desiderata ; 

 but see Bull. Nuttall Club, iii, 1878, p. 197 ; New England Bird Life, ii, 1883, p. 240 ; and 

 Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 26, p. 97. * 



TRINGOl'DES. (Gr. rpvyyas, truggas, Lat. tryngas, or tringa, a sandpiper ; el8os, eidos, re- 

 semblance.) Spotted Sandpipers. Bill straight, only about as long as head or tarsus, grooved 

 for about three-fourths its length. Tibiae scarcely denuded for half the length of tarsus. Tar- 

 sus about as long as middle toe and claw. Outer and middle toes webbed for the length of 

 their first joints ; inner cleft. Tail fully half as long as the wing. Upper parts glossy, 

 under spotted on white ground ; bill and feet pale. Of small size. 



T. macula' rius. (Lat. wtacwZames, spotted. Fig. 447-) Spotted Sandpiper. (J 9, adult: 



Above, silken ashen-olive (quaker-color — as in our 

 cuckoos) with a coppery lustre, finely varied with 

 blackish, in streaks on head and neck, elsewhere in 

 wavy or otherwise irregular cross-bars. Line over 

 eye, and entire under parts, pure white, with nu- 

 merous sharp circular black spots, larger and more 

 crowded in the 9 than in the ^. Secondaries and 

 Fig. 447. — Spotted Sandpiper, nat. size, their coverts broadly white -tipped; some white feath- 

 ^^ • ^ ■ • ■> ers along bend of wing ; axiUars and lining of wings 



white, the latter with an oblique dusky bar. Primaries and most of the secondaries brownish- 

 black, with broMm shafts and large white basal spaces, concealed in the folded wing, conspicuous 

 in flight. Upper tail-coverts and middle tail-feathers like back ; lateral ones successively acquir- 

 ing white tips ; outer with several incomplete white bars. Feet pinkish-white, drying yellow- 

 ish. Bill flesh-color, black-tipped; sometimes much of culmen dusky; sometimes much of 

 under mandible orange. <J : Length 7.25-7.60; extent 13.00-13.50 ; wing 3.80-4.00 ; biU, 

 tarsus, and middle toe with claw, each 0.95-1.00. 9 : Length 7-60-7.90 ; extent 13.50-14.00 ; 

 wing 3.90-4.10. Young: Above, less glossy, vrith little if any blackish variegation. Below, 

 white, entirely free from spotting. Downy young : Below, white ; above, mottled with dark 

 brown and buff; a sharp black stripe from top of head down middle of back, and another 

 through eye. N. Am. at large, extremely abundant everywhere near water, and breeding 

 throughout the country ; winters in Southern States and beyond ; familiarly known as the 

 sandlark, peetweet, teeter-tail, tip-up, etc., these last names being given in allusion to its 

 habit (shared by allied species) of jetting the tail as it moves; a custom as marked as the 

 continual bobbing of the head of the solitary tattler and others. Nest a slight affair of dried 

 grasses, on the ground, often in a field or orchard, but generally near water ; eggs 4, pointed, 

 creamy or clay-colored, blotched with blackish and neutral tint ; about 1.30 X 1.00. 

 347. MACHE'TES. (Gr. liaxrjr^s, machetes, a fighter.) Fighting Sandpipers. Bill straight, 

 about as long as head, shorter than tarsus, grooved nearly to tip. Gape reaching behind 

 culmen. Outer and middle toe webbed at base ; inner cleft. Tarsus longer than middle toe 

 and claw. Tail about half as long as wing, barred. $ in the breeding season mth the face 

 bare and beset wdth papillae, and the neck with an extravagant frill or ruffle of elongated 

 feathers. 9 without these ornaments. 

 639. M. pug'nax. (Lat. jpi/^rwar, pugnacious. Fig. 448.) Ruff, $. Reeve, 9. Combatant. 

 Gambetta. Adult $, in vi^edding dresa : Varied above with black, brown, buff and chestnut, 

 the sides of rump Avhite ; under parts white, breast and sides and crissum black, spotted with 

 white ; tail broAvn, barred with chestnut and white ; quills dusky, with white shafts ; wing 

 coverts ashy-brown. Bill blackish, flesh-colored at base; legs dingy yellow; warty excres- 

 cences yellqw ; feathers of the ruff endlessly varied in color. Length about 12.00 ; wing 7.00 ; 



