102 CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



624. Pelidna alpina americana (Cass.) Allen, b 530. c 424. r 539a. 



American Dunlin. 



625. Ancylochilus subarquatus (Guld.) Kaup. B 529. c 425. R 540. 



Curlew Sandpiper, 



626. Tringa canutus L. b 526. c 426. R 529. 



Red-breasted Sandpiper; Robin Snipe; Knot. [See Addenda, No. 884. 



.627. Calidris arenaria (L.) 111. b 534. c 427. R 542. 



Sanderling. 



628. Limosa fcBda (L.) Ord. b 547. c 428. R 543. 



Great 3Iarbled Godwit. 



629. Limosa hsemastica (L., 1758) Coues. B 548. c 429. R 545. 



Hudsonian Godwit. 



624. P. a. am-er-i-ca'-na. See Parula, No. 93. 



625. An-cy-16-chi'-lus sub-ar-qua'-tfis. Gr. a.yKv\6xei\os, having a curved bill : aynvKos, 



crooked, bent, from ayKiiy, the bent elbow, and x^^^"^' tlie mouth, from a word signify- 

 ing to open, to gape. — Lat. suharquatus, slightly curved ; see Arquatella, No. 620. 



626. Trin'-ga can-u'-tus. Lat. tringa, or trynrja, or tri/ngas, a sandpiper ; not classic. Derived 



from Gr. rpuyyas, an obscure and obsolete word, occurring in Aristotle as the name of 

 some unknown bird. The species was very aptly named by Linnaeus after old King 

 Canute, who, it is said, sat on the seashore and allowed the waves to reach liim, to 

 rebuke his toadying courtiers who had declared the sea would obey his n-iajesty, — a 

 myth according well with the habits of sandpipers. — Canutus, if it has any relation 

 with, or is of same meaning as canus, gray, hoary, iroMos, is well suited either to the 

 old king, or to this sandpiper in its winter dress. 



627. Cal-id'-ris a-re-na'-ri-a. Gr. tr/caAiSpis or Ka\ldpts, Lat. scalidris or caUdris, an obscure 



Aristotelian bird, by some supposed to be the modern totamis calidris. The word is 

 apparently from crKaXls, some digging instrument, from a-KaWai, I scrape, rake, &c., and 

 refers to the same probing habits of this sandpiper that ereunetes signalizes. But the 

 form Chalidris also occurs, as in Belon for example ; whence some refer the word to the 

 Gr. x«^'l) Lat. calx, calculus, &c., considering that it alludes to the pebbly or shingly 

 beaches which the bird frequents. — Lat. arenarius, relating to sand ; arena, sand, or a 

 sandy place, as the arena was, where gladiatorial and other sports were witnessed by 

 the Roman brutes. 



628. Li-mo'-sa foe'-da. Lat. limosus, miry, muddy ; limns, mud, slime. — We can learn nothing of 



any such word asfedoa, and take it to be a misprint or other mistake for fadus, -a, -um, 

 ugly, unseemly, &c. It might be supposed to have some relation io fadus, a compact, 

 treaty, the sense of which is seen m federal, confederate, &c., and the application of which 

 would be to the gregariousness of the bird. But fcedus, in the latter sense, is not an 

 adjective; it is fadus, foederis, and the adjectival form would hefederatus; while there is 

 an adjective fxdus, ugly, as well as a verb foedo, to defile, the participial of which is 

 fadatus. In view of these facts, we propose to substitute yJrt/a iorfedoa, until some satis- 

 factory explanation of the latter can be given. Fedoa occurs at least as far back as 

 Edwards as the name of this species, and has since passed unchallenged. 



629. L. haem-as'-ti-ca. Gr. alfxaa-TiKos or alfiariKos, hsmastic or haematic, of a bloody-red 



color ; aifj-da-a-ai, I make bloody ; of/ta, blood ; referring to the red under parts, so con- 

 spicuous in this species. 



This stands as L. hudsonica in the orig. ed. See Coues, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, 

 p. 100. 



