246. 
638. 
247. 
639. 
640 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS.—LIMICOLZ. 
in N. U.S. and northward, if not also throyg@ most of its U.S. range; winters altogether 
or chiefly extralimital. Abundant during the migrations; a shy, quiet inhabitant of wet woods 
and meadows and secluded pools, rather than of the marshes. Eggs still (1883 !) desiderata ; 
but see Bull. Nuttall Club, iii, 1878, p. 197; New England Bird Life, ii, 1883, p. 240; and 
Bull. U. 8S. Nat. Mus. No. 26, p. 97. 
TRINGOIDES. (Gr. tpvyyas, truggas, Lat. tryngas, or tringa, a sandpiper ; ides, eidos, re- 
semblance.) SPoTreD SANDPIPERS. Bill straight, only about as long as head or tarsus, grooved 
for about three-fourths its length. Tibize scarcely denuded for half the length of tarsus. Tar- 
sus about as long as middle toe and claw. Outer and middle toes webbed for the length of 
their first joimts; inner cleft. Tail fully half as long as the wing. Upper parts glossy, 
under spotted on white ground; bill and feet pale. Of small size. 
T. macula’rius, (Lat. macularius, spotted. Fig. 447.) SporrtED SANDPIPER. @ Q, adult: 
Above, silken ashen-olive (quaker-color — as in our 
cuckoos) with a coppery lustre, finely varied with 
blackish, in streaks on head and neck, elsewhere in 
wavy or otherwise irregular cross-bars. Line over 
eye, and entire under parts, pure white, with nu- 
merous sharp circular black spots, larger and more 
crowded in the @ than in the ¢. Secondaries and 
Fic. 447. — Spotted Sandpiper, nat. size. their coverts broadly white-tipped; some white feath- 
(Ad nat. del. E. C.) 
ers along bend of wing; axillars and lining of wings 
white, the latter with an oblique dusky bar. Primaries aud most of the secondaries brownish- 
black, with brown shafts and large white basal spaces, concealed in the folded wing, conspicuous 
in flight. Upper tail-coverts and middle tail-feathers like back; lateral ones successively acquir- 
ing white tips; outer with several incomplete white bars. Feet pinkish-white, drying yellow- 
ish. Bill flesh-color, black-tipped; sometimes much of culmen dusky; sometimes much of 
under mandible orange. @: Length 7.25-7.60; extent 13.00-13.50; wing 3.80-4.00 ; bill, 
tarsus, and middle toe with claw, each 0.95-1.00. 9: Length 7.60-7.90; extent 13.50-14.00 ; 
wing 3.90-4.10. Young: Above, less glossy, with little if any blackish variegation. Below, 
white, entirely free from spotting. Downy young: Below, white; above, mottled with dark 
brown and buff; a sharp black stripe from top of head down middle of back, and another 
through eye. N. Am. at large, extremely abundant everywhere near water, and breeding 
throughout the country; winters in Southern States and beyond; familiarly known as the 
sandlark, peetweet, teeter-tail, tip-up, etc., these last names being given in allusion to its 
habit (shared by allied species) of jetting the tail as it moves; a custom as marked as the 
continual bobbing of the head of the solitary tattler and others. Nest a slight affair of dried 
grasses, on the ground, often in a field or orchard, but generally near water; eggs 4, pointed, 
creamy or clay-colored, blotched with blackish and neutral tint; about 1.30 x 1.00. 
MACHE'TES. (Gr. payntys, machetes, a fighter.) FIGHTING SANDPIPERS. Bill straight, 
about as long as head, shorter than tarsus, grooved nearly to tip. Gape reaching behind 
culmen. Outer and middle toe webbed at base; inner cleft. Tarsus longer than middle toe 
and claw. Tail about half as long as wing, barred. ¢@ in the breeding season with the face 
bare and beset with papille, and the neck with an extravagant frill or ruffle of elongated 
feathers. Q without these ornaments. 
M. pug/nax. (Lat. pugnax, pugnacious. Fig. 448.) Rurr, ¢. REEVE, 9. COMBATANT. 
GAMBETTA. Adult @, in wedding dress: Varied above with black, brown, buff and chestnut, 
the sides of rump white; under parts white, breast and sides and crissum black, spotted with 
white ; tail brown, barred with chestnut and white; quills dusky, with white shafts; wing 
coverts ashy-brown. Bill blackish, flesh-colored at base ; legs dingy yellow; warty excres- 
cences yellow; feathers of the ruff endlessly varied in color. Length about 12.00; wing 7.00 ; 
