BIRDS — SCOLOPACIDAE — TRINGA CANUTUS. 715 



middle toe witbout its claw. The claws are all short, blunt, and much curved. The tail is 

 rather wedge-shaped. The body is full and compact, standing very low on the legs. 



Schoeniclus. — The bare portion of the tibia is not quite half the tarsus. The bill is decidedly 

 decurved from the middle and depres»d at tip. The toes are short, but straight and acute. 

 The diiference from Erolia appears very slight. 



Tringa, Linn. 

 TRINGA CANUTUS, Linn. 



Gray Back; Robin Snipe. 



Tringa canutus, Linv. Syst. Nat. I, 1766, 251.— Bon. List, 1838. 



Tringa ferruginea, BunNNicH, Orn. Bor. 1764, No. 186. 



Tringa cinere; Cmelin, Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 673.— Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, 1813, 36 ; pi. Ivii. 



? Tringa aiislralis, Gm. I, 679. 



Tringa islandica, Gm. Syst. Nat. I, 1788, 682.— Ano. Orn. Biog. IV, 1838, 130 ; pi. 315.— Ib. Syn. 232.— Ib. 



Birds Am. V, 1842, 254 ; pi. 328. 

 Tringa naevia and grisea, Gm. I, 681. 

 Tnngarufa, Wils. Am. Orn. Vll, 1813, 57 ; pi. Ivii. 



FiGDREs.— Buffon. PI. Enl. 365, 366.— Edwards, Birds, pi. 276.— Wilson, Am. Orn. VII, pi. 57, figs. 2, 5.— Aud. B. of Am. 

 pi. 315 ; oct. ed. V, pi. 328.— Gould, B. of Eur. IV, pi. 324.— Naumann, B. of Germany, pi. 183. 



Sp. Ch. — Large ; bill straight, rather longer than the head, compressed, slightly enlarged at the tip ; upper mandible with 

 the nasal groove extending to near the tip ; legs moderate ; tibia with its lower third part naked ; neck moderate ; wing long ; 

 tail short. Toes free at base, flattened beneath, widely margined ; hind toe slender, small. Entire upper parts light gray, with 

 lanceolate, linear, and irregular spots of black, and others of pale reddish ; rump and upper tail coverts white, with transversa 

 narrow bands and crescent-shaped spots of black. Under parts light brownish red, paler in the middle of the abdomen ; under 

 tail coverts, tibial feathers, flanks, axillary feathers, and under wing coverts white, generally wilh spois and transverse bars of 

 brownish black. Quills brownish black, with their shafts white ; tail Hght brownish cinereous, (without spots or bars) ; all the 

 feathers edged with white, and frequently with a second sub-edging of dark brown. Bill brownish black ; legs greenish black. 



Young and icinler plumage. — Upper parts brownish ashy, darker on the back, every feather having a sub-terminal edging of 

 brownish black, and tipped with dull ashy white ; rump white, with crescents of black ; under parts dull ashy white, nearly 

 pure on the abdomen, but with numerous longitudinal lines, and small spots of dark brown on the breast and neck ; sides with 

 crescent-shaped and irregular spots of brownish black. An obscure line of dull white over and behind the eye. Total length, 

 (from tip of bill to end of tail,) about 10 inches ; wing, 6; ; tail, 2J ; bill from gape, Ih ; tarsus, l' inches. Female larger.' 



Hab. — Eastern North America ; Europe. 



This is the largest of the sandpipers of the United States, and appears to be restricted to the 

 shores of the Atlantic in this division of the continent of America. We have never seen it 

 from the Pacific coast. 



In the United States this bird is known as the red-breasted snipe, or sometimes as the gray- 

 backed snipe, though we have never heard the name " Knot" applied to it, which appears to be 

 a common appellation of the same species in Europe, and is given by American authors. This 

 is one of the few species of birds which appears to be absolutely identical witb a species of 

 Europe, and is of very extensive diffusion over tbe world, especially in the season of southern 

 migration. 



This bird has received a variety of names, of which, the very first appears to be that adopted 

 at the head of this article. 



