BAY-BIRDS. 163 
quarters of an inch, slender; tarsi three-quarters of 
an inch; legs yellowish-green. Adult with the bill 
brownish-black; upper part of the breast grey- 
brown, mixed with white; back and upper parts 
black; the whole plumage above broadly edged 
with bright bay and yellow ochre; primaries black 
—greater coverts the same, tipped with white; tail 
rounded, the four exterior feathers on each side dull 
white—the rest dark-brown; tertials as long as 
the primaries ; head above dark-brown, with paler 
edges; over the eye a streak of whitish; belly and 
vent white. Length five inches and a half, wing 
three and a half. With many of our birds we ob- 
serve that individuals of the same species vary in 
length, extent, and sometimes differ slightly in their 
bills, even with those which have arrived at 
maturity.—On consulting ornithological works, we 
notice that there are no two writers whose 
measurement is in all cases alike. With specimens 
of the Wilson’s sandpiper, we find in their pro- 
portions greater discrepancy than in many other 
species—and out of these differences we are inclined 
to the opinion that two spurious species have been 
created.” — Giraud. 
TATLER. 
Genus Totanus. 
Generic Distinctions.—Bill longer than the head, 
straight, hard and slender ; neck slender, and both it 
and body rather long; wings long and pointed; tail 
short and rounded; legs long; hind-toe very small, 
