SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER 



117 



which is shorter than, or a mere fraction longer than, the lower segment, 

 or shank, of the leg, this bird and three allied species come very close 

 to the stints, from which, however, they differ by the length of the 

 shank exceeding that of the middle toe. On this account they are 

 referred by some naturalists to a distinct genus, the title of this species 

 then being Heteropygia maculata. In having the shaft of only the first 

 primary quill white, the sharp-tailed sandpiper resembles Temminck's 

 stint ; it is specially characterised by the brown legs, dark upper tail- 

 coverts, and the presence of a dark band across the neck and chest, as 

 well as by the slight excess in the length of the beak over that of the 

 lower segment of the 

 leg. In one book 

 the length is given 

 as ranging from 8^ 

 to 9 inches, in a 

 second as 9, and in 

 a third as 8 inches. 

 In summer-plumage 

 the general tone of 

 the upper-parts is 

 bright clay - colour, 

 or brownish buff, 

 broadly streaked 

 with dusky ; the fore 

 part of the neck and 

 breast being greyish 

 tinged with pale buff and streaked with dark grey, and the throat 

 and remainder of the lower surface white. In winter the colouring 

 of the plumage of the upper surface is more nearly uniform, the dusky 

 markings being less distinct, and the buff-coloured areas paler. The 

 general colouring of the plumage of immature birds is similar to that 

 of the adults in summer-dress, but brighter, the buff being richer and 

 the scapulars tipped with white, while the streaks on the breast are 

 narrower. 



The sharp -tailed sandpiper is an American species, of which 

 stragglers are blown from time to time across the Atlantic to the 

 British Isles, and it is solely owing to the number of such casual 

 visitors that the species is here assigned a definite place in the British 

 list. Twenty-nine instances, some represented by two or more 

 individuals, of the occurrence of the species in the British Isles, were 

 indeed recorded between the years 1830 and 1878 ; and it is not a 



HE ROWLAND WARD 



SHAKP-TAILED SANDPIPER. 



