64 TRINGIN^E. CALIDRIS. 



first quill longest, one of the inner secondaries nearly as 

 long when the wing is closed ; tail short, of twelve fea- 

 thers. 



The Tringinse are maritime and gregarious in winter, 

 active and lively, run with great speed, and have a rapid 

 flight. They obtain their food chiefly by probing, but 

 they also pick up substances from the surface, and that 

 more frequently than the birds of the next two families. 

 In summer they retire northward, and go inland to breed, 

 forming a slight nest on the ground, and laying four py- 

 riform, spotted eggs. They have not the vibratory mo- 

 tion of the Totaninse, nor conceal themselves by skulk- 

 ing, like the Scolopacinse. Sixteen species occur in Bri- 

 tain, many of them very common, others mere stragglers. 



GENUS XCIV. CALIDRIS. SANDERLING. 



This genus is composed of a single species, which is very 

 widely distributed on both continents. It might perhaps be 

 referred to the next genus, from which it differs chiefly in 

 having the bill shorter, and the feet destitute of hind toe, 

 the presence or absence of which, however, seems of very 

 little importance in this and the preceding orders. It is a 

 small bird, having the body ovate, compact ; the neck rather 

 short ; the head rather small, compressed, anteriorly convex. 

 Bill of the length of the head, straight, slender, soft, and 

 somewhat flexible ; upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 straight, the ridge narrow, the tip a little enlarged and ob- 

 tuse, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end ; the 

 lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the 

 sides grooved, the tip a little enlarged and obtuse. Mouth 

 extremely narrow ; tongue very long, slender, trigonal, chan- 

 nelled above, pointed ; oesophagus narrow ; proventriculus 

 small ; gizzard large and muscular, its cuticular lining ru- 

 gous ; intestine long ; coeca moderate, cylindrical. Nostrils 

 small, linear, pervious, basal. Eyes small, eyelids feathered. 

 Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Feet rather short, 

 veiy slender ; tibia bare for a fourth of its length ; tarsus 

 with numerous anterior scutella ; toes small, first wanting, 



