306 SKETCHES OF EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 
Sandpiper, Tringa rufescens,—le Tringa roussatre, /’r.,—excellent 
alike, in form and colouring. This elegant bird, discovered, in 
Louisiana, by Vieillot, has been observed only thrice within the limits 
of Europe,—twice in this country and once in France ; and was first 
described as a British species by Mr. Yarrell in the 16th volume of 
the Linnean Transactions. Of its habits and nidification, nothing 
is, at present, known. 
Puare VII. A noble figure of the Short-toed Eagle,—Circaétus 
brachydactylus,—l Aigle jean de blanc, Fr.,—Falco terzo d’ Aquila, 
It.,—Kurzzehiger Adler, G. This Eagle,—F. gallicus of Gmelin, 
and leucopsis of Bechstein,— Aquila brachydactyla and — leucam- 
phoma, of other German writers,—has, as the specific designation 
indicates, short toes, the outer two united, at their base, by a web ; 
the lateral and hind-toes nearly equal ; nails short, and strongly 
curved. It has the wings of the Eagles and Buzzards, with the re- 
ticulated tarsi of the Ospreys ; holds an intermediate place, in a phi- 
losophical System of Ornithology, between the genera Haliaétus, 
Pandion, and Buteo : and is admirably described by Temminck, in 
his celebrated Manuel, p. 46. It inhabits the great pine-forests of 
the eastern portions of North Europe : occurs, occasionally, in Ger- 
many and Switzerland ; rarely in France ; never in Holland or the 
British islands. Its favourite food is lizards and serpents: in the 
absence of these, birds and poultry. In a nest built on the loftiest 
trees, the female deposits two or three eggs, of a lustrous-grey co- 
lour, without spots. The Plate represents a male bird in the adoles- 
cent state; when the flanks and thighs are transversely barred with 
brown. 
Pxate VIII. Figures of the male and female Bimaculated Teal, 
—Querquedula—olim Anas—glocitans—admirably executed. This 
beautiful species, the largest, hitherto known, of the Teal genus, is 
described, by Pallas, as a native of Northern Siberia. Three in- 
stances only of its capture have occurred in Britain. It has been 
correctly figured by Pennant in his British Zoology. Of its habits, 
nidification, and anatomy of the trachea, Ornithology, at present, 
possesses no record. The English specific designation* of the bird 
is derived from two large brown spots, of an oblong figure, on the 
* On what ground, has our late correspondent, S. D. W., while he some- 
what capriciously substitutes Crecca as a generic appellation of the Teal, for 
Querquedula, neglected to adopt the precise and corresponding Latin term, 
bimaculata, for the species, in preference to the vague and objectionable gloci- 
tans 2—P. 
