130 A MANUAL OF THE BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



ones paler and more broadly edged with white ; central tail-feathers dark brown 

 fringed with ferruginous, the outer feathers pale brown and edged with white ; a 

 circle of short white feathers surrounds the eye ; fore-head, lores, a line over the 

 eye, sides of face, and throat white, with dark pear-shaped spots on the middle of 

 the feathers, which become larger and coarser on the ear-coverts, sides of neck, 

 lower throat, and chest which are tinged with ferruginous, some of the feathers 

 on the sides of the chest and breast are more or less grey ; breast and sides of body 

 paler with dark V-shaped markings to the feathers ; middle of abdomen white ; 

 under tail-coverts white with dark lanceolate markings to the feathers ; under 

 wing-coverts dark brown broadly fringed with white, the greater series greyish- 

 brown with white borders ; under side of quills also greyish-brown, paler on the 

 inner webs at the basal portion, and with conspicuous white shafts ; bill brown, 

 base of lower mandible pale brown ; iris brown ; feet and legs olive. Total length 

 230 mm. ; culmen 25, wing 125-130, tail 55, tarsus 30. 



Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 



Immature. Head, upper back, and scapulars black, with rufous or white edgings 

 to the feathers ; hind-neck dark brown, the feathers margined with buffy-grey ; 

 lesser, median, marginal, and greater wing-coverts dark brown, edged with white 

 at the tips, inclining to grey on the inner coverts ; bastard-wing and primary- 

 coverts dark brown, some of the latter narrowly tipped with white ; primary- 

 and secondary-quills also dark brown, the latter fringed with white at the tips ; 

 lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dull black, the feathers of the latter 

 margined with rufous at the tips ; the lateral upper tail-coverts white, with black 

 shaft-lines ; middle tail-feathers dark browr , edged with rufous, the outer feathers 

 pale brown with white margins ; throat, lores, and eyebrow whitish ; sides of 

 face, sides of neck, fore-neck, and sides of breast buff with dark narrow shaft-lines ; 

 middle of breast and sides of body uniform sandy-buff ; abdomen and under tail- 

 coverts dull white, with dark shaft-streaks to the latter ; axillaries and under wing- 

 coverts white ; the marginal coverts dark brown, edged with white, the greater 

 under wing-coverts grey, tipped with white ; bill brown, base of lower mandible 

 olive-brown ; iris brown ; tarsi and feet olive-yellow. Total length 215 mm. ; 

 culmen 25, wing 128, tail 56, tarsus 30. 



Nestling, Nest and Eggs. Unknown. 



Distribution and forms. Breeds in Siberia, migrating southward to Australia, 

 etc., in winter. 



Genus PISOBIA. 



Pisobia Billberg, Synops. Faunae Scand., Vol. I., pt. n., p. 136, 1828. Type (by subsequent 



designation, Amer. O.U. Comm., Auk, July 1908, p. 366) : Tringa minttta Leisler (c/. Austral 



Av. Rec., Vol. II., pts. 2 and 3, p. 40, Oct. 23rd, 1913.) 



Leimonites Kaup, Skizz. Entwick. -Gesch. Nat. Syst., p. 37, (pref. April) 1829. Type (by 



monotypy) : Tringa temminckii Leisler. 



Actodromas Kaup, ib., p. 55. Type (by monotypy) : T. minuia Leisler. 



Heteropygia Coues, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philad., 1861, p. 190, July. Type (by original 



designation) : Tringa bonapartei = Tringa fuscieollis Vieillot. 



Delopygia Coues, ib. (note). Alternative name for Heteropygia. 



Neopisobia Mathews, Birds Austr., Vol. III., pt. 3, p. 245, Aug. 18th, 1913. Type (by 



monotypy) : Totanus damacensis Auct. not Horsfield = Tringa subminula Middend. 



Smallest Waders with short straight slender bills, long wings, comparatively 

 long tails, short legs, and short feet. The culmen is short, straight, and slender, 

 with the groove in the upper mandible extending almost to the tip ; the tip is some- 

 what expanded and faintly punctulate. The culmen is shorter than the metatarsus, 

 and less than half the length of the tail. 



The wings are long and pointed with the first primary longest. The tail, which 

 is strongly doubly emarginate, is less than half the length of the wing but more than 



