822 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.— LIMICOL.E. 



whitf. Wiug-covcrts with broad grayish -white borders. Tail liglit ashy, edged and tipped 

 witli white, c-entrul feathers with a subtenniiial dusky border in addition. Under parts entirely 

 white, breast and sides of neck finely streaked with dusky, former with a light buflF tinge. 

 Length about 8.50; wing 4.90-5.20; bill 1.40-1.60, average 1.50; tarsus 1.20; toe 0.90; tibia 

 bare 0.70. Inhabits most of the Old World ; in America very rare, little more than a straggler 

 along tlie Atlantic coast (for particulars f>f a dozen or more instances of its occurrence, see New 

 England Bird Life, vol. ii, p. 224, and Auk, 1893, p. 293 and p. 296)'; also known to occur in 

 Alaska (Point Barrow, June 8, 1883). The eggs long remained unknown, and when these 

 special desiderata were discovered, they were found to be iudistinguisliable from those of some 

 related species, as might have been expected; they measure about 1.50 X 1-05. The bird is 

 known to breed on the Yenesei River in Siberia (Popham). A. subarquatus of former eds. of 

 the Key; T. subarquata of most authors, after Scolopax subarquata Guld., 1774, antedated 

 by T.ferruginea Bruxn. 1764; Trimja (Ancylocheiltts) ferruginea, A. 0. U. No. 244. 

 TRIX'GA. (Gr. rpvyyat, truggas; Lat. tryngas, tnjnga, or tringa, a sandpiper.) Robin 

 .Sandpipers. Knots. Bill about as long as, or rather longer than, head, straight, stout, 

 somewhat compressed, widening uniformly from the middle to the slightly expanded, rat'her 

 hard tip ; culmen depressed on terminal half to the expansion at tip, and obsoletely furrowed. 

 Both mandibles deeply grooved to tip. Nostrils very large and placed far forward in the upper 

 groove. Feathers extending on lower mandible mnch fiirther than on upper, and nearly as far 

 as those between rami. Wings long, pointed, 1st primary decidedly longest. Secondaries 

 moderately incised. Tertials short, broad, and comparatively stiff. Tail rather short, nearly 

 even, central feathers projecting little if any. Legs short and very stout; tarsus usually shorter 

 than bill ; longer than middle toe. Tibial feathers reaching nearly to joint ; tibise bare for 

 nearly f the tarsus. Toes very short and stout, free at base, widely margined ; outer lateral 

 longer than inner. Hind toe present, well developed. Claws short, stout, blunt, much curved, 

 dilated on inner edge. Size large, form stout. {Tringa Linn., 1758, formerly used for all the 

 sliort-billed Scolopacidce, now restricted to a few species like the Knot, w4iich is taken as the 

 type by elimination.) 



T. canu'tus. (Named for King Canute by Linnaeus, who accepted the dubious tradition that 

 connected this bird witli a story of the Danish king Knut, Cnut, Canut, etc. Newton (Diet. 

 1893, p. 498) traces the connection to Camden's Britannia, 2d ed. 1607, p. 408: ^' Knotts, i. 

 Canuti ernes, vt opiuor e Dania enim aduolare creduutur." The name appears in the poems of 

 Micliael Drayton, b. 1563, d. 1631, sub. 1596-1630, and Knotts are named in MSS. of the 16th 

 century. Sir T. Browne has Gnatts or Knots, ca. 1672. Edwards has Knot, 1760. Other forms 

 are Gnat, Knat, Knet, etc Fig. 573.) Knot. Red-breasted Sandpiper. Red Sand- 

 piper. Asii-coLORED Sandpiper. Freckled Sandpiper. Grisled Sandpiper. 

 Gray-back. Silver-back. Robin-snipe. White Robin-snipe. Robin-breast. 

 Beach-robin. Robin. Red-breast. Buff-breast. White-bellied Snipe. Horse- 

 foot Snipe. May-bird. Largest of North American TringecE. Adult (J 9 , in summer : 

 Ui»per parts brownish-black, each feather broadly tipped and edged with ashy-white, tinged 

 with reddish-yellow on scapulars. Rump ashy, barred with dusky; upper tail-coverts white, 

 witli transverse sagittate or crescentic bars of brownish-black. Tail grayish-ash, edged with 

 asiiy-white. Outer webs and tips of primaries deep dusky, inner much lighter. Second- 

 aries and coverts grayish-ash, broadly edged and tipped with ashy-white. Line over eye and 

 most under parts uniform brownisli-red, fading into white on flanks and under tail-coverts, 

 which latter are marked with sagittate spots of dusky. Bill and feet greenish-black. Adult 

 (J 9 , in winter : Above, plain ashy-gray, only varied by indistinct dusky shaft-lines on most 

 parts, but rump and upper tail-coverts white with dusky bars; below, white, with some dusky 

 markings on the breast and sides; thus rpiite different from the "Robin" plumage of summer, 

 but easily recognized by the generic characters. Young in autunm : Upper parts a uniform 



