SCOLOPAf'ID.K — THK SNIPE FAMILY. 51 



SuBGENis Pelidna Cuvier. 



Pelidna Gov. K^g. Anim. 1817. 490; ed. 2, 1829. 526. Type, Tringa alpina Linn. 



Grab. Bill slender, longer than the head, deep through the base, compressed, scarcely 

 or not at all expanded at the tip, and decidedly deeurved terminally. Tarsus shorter than 

 the bill, longer than the middle toe. Wings reaching beyond end of tail. 



The subgenus Pdidna includes two well-known Sandpipers, both 

 of which are common to North America and Europe, although 

 one of them, the Curlew Sandpiper, P. fcrruyinto., can scarcely 

 be considered as more than a straggler here. The other is repr-e- 

 sented in the two continents by distinguishable races. The char- 

 acters of the species and races of Pelidna are as follows: 



1. T. alpina. Upper tail-coverts dusky. i4</M/( in summer.- Belly black, other lower parts 



whitish. Winter plumage: Noblack beneath; above, uniform brownish gray, i'onng: 



Belly and breast spotted mth black. 

 a. alpina. Wing, 4.30-4.75; oulmen, 1.15-1.40; tarsus, .85-1.00; middle toe, .70-.7S. Hab. 



Europe, etc. 

 /ff. paciflca. Wing. 4.60-4.95; culmen. 1.40-1.75; tarsus, 1.0O-1.15; middle toe, .70-.75. 



Hah. North America and Eastern Asia. 



2. T. fermgiiiea. Upper tail-coverts white. .4rf'(/< in summer; Beneath, including belly, 



deep cinnamon-rufou . Winter plumage: Beneath, white, indistinctly streaked on 

 the jugulum; above, brownish gray. Voung: Belly and breast unspotted V 

 Palaearctic Region: occasional in northern and eastern North America. 



Tringa alpina paciflca (Coues). 



EED-BACKED 8ANDPIPEB. 

 Popular STnonyms. Stile (Plymouth Bay. Mass.); Ameriiaii Dunlin. 



Tringa alpina WrLS. Am. Orn. vii, 1813,25, pi. 56, fig. 2 (nee LiNN.).— Sw.&KlCH. F. B.-A. li. 

 1K«. :«!.-NuTT. Man. ii, 18»l. 106.— AuD. Orn. Biog. lii. 1835, 580, pi. 290. Synop. 1839, 

 231; B. Am. v. 18(2. 26«. 

 Tringa cinclun WiLS. Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 39, pi. 57, llg. 3 Inec LlNN.). 



Tringa alpina var. americana Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858. 719.— Baibd, Cat. N. Am. 

 B. 1859. No. 630.— GOUES, Key, 1872. 25«: Ghet'k List. 1874, 424; Birds N. W. 1874, 489. 

 Pelidna alpina americana RiDOW. Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus. 1881, 200; Nom. N. Am. B. 1881, 

 No. 539a.— Coues, Check List. 2d ed. 1882, No. 621. 

 Pelidna paciflca CovM. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila. 1861, 189 (in text). 

 Tringa alpina paciflca KiDOW. in A. U. U. Check List, 1886,]No. 243a; Man. N. Am. B. 1887. 



160. 

 Pelidna alpina, /3. paciflca B. B. Si R. Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 242. 

 Hab. North America in general; breeding far nortbwanl; eastern Asia. 

 Sp. Chab. Adult in sunitner: Crown, back, scapulars, rump, and upper tail-covorta, 

 light rufous, the crown streaked, otlier part.i »potti;d with blu<.-k; wing-coverta brownish 

 gray, the greater 'TOadly tipp<'d with whiti*. Head (except crown), neck, jugulum. and 

 breast, grayish white, streaked with dusky; abdomen blat-k; sides. Hanks, anal region, 

 vrissum, and lining of the wing, pure white, the sides. Hanks, and crissum sparsely 

 streaked. Adult and uoung in winter: Above, entirely plain ash-gray, sometimes with 

 very indistinct dusky shaft-streaks: indistinct supurelliary stripe and lower parts white. 



