ii8 PLOVER GROUP 



little remarkable that while East Anglia claims nine of these, only one 

 falls to the share of Ireland, where the visitations of this species would 

 naturally be expected to be more numerous than elsewhere. 



Of the eastern sharp-tailed sandpiper, Tringa aauninata (or 

 Heteropygia acujiiifiata), of Eastern Asia, two specimens from Norfolk 

 represent the British record for the nineteenth century. It may be 

 distini^uished from the American species by the relatively shorter beak, 

 and the presence of white on some portions of the shafts of all the 

 primary quills. The length is 8 inches. Nine occurrences (two re- 

 presented by more than a single specimen of the bird) of Bonaparte's 

 sandpiper, Tringa fuscicollis (or Heteropygia fuscicollis), were recorded 

 during the same period in the British Islands, most of these being from 

 the southern and south-western coasts of England, although one is 

 Irish. The species is a native of North America, breeding throughout 

 a wide range in the Arctic regions, and wintering in the West Indies 

 and Central and South America. In appearance the bird is very like 

 a small dunlin, from which, in addition to the general characters referred 

 to above, it may be distinguished by the white patch formed by the upper 

 tail-coverts. Of yet another North American member of this group, 

 namely, Baird's sandpiper (Triuga bairdi, or Heteropygia bairdi), a single 

 example was taken in Sussex in the autumn of 1900, while a second 

 specimen is recorded from Norfolk in 1903. This bird ranges from 

 America across Bering Sea to the Chukchi Peninsula. 



„ Why the little wader which forms the typical (and, 



,„ . . ^ according to the "splitters," together with its eastern 



(Tring-a canutus). , , , > » 



relative, the only) representative of the genus 7 ringa, 



should have been specially singled out to perpetuate the name of the 



one Danish sovereign who has occupied the British throne it is not 



easy to conjecture, seeing that there are several other sandpipers 



equally in the habit of running along the margin of the tide. The 



knot and the allied eastern species resemble the dunlin (described later) 



in that the beak, which has a distinct ridge on the upper surface and 



expands slightly towards the tip, is considerably longer than the shank 



or lower segment of the leg (thereby differing from the sharp-tailed 



sandpiper and its relatives) ; but are broadly distingui.shcd by the 



squared tail, of which the middle feathers are not elongated. The 



European species is considerably smaller than the eastern knot {T. 



crassirostris), mcdiSUYxng 10 inches in total length, with a wing of 6^ 



inches. The breeding-range of the knot includes the Arctic regions 



of both hemispheres, extending in the Old Workl at least as far east 



