66 TRINGIJOS. TRINGA. 



GENUS XCY. TRINGA. SANDPIPER. 



The species of this genus are of small size, the largest 

 not exceeding the Golden Plover. They have the body 

 ovate and compact ; the neck of moderate length ; the head 

 rather small, compressed, anteriorly convex. Bill not much 

 longer than the head, nearly straight, slender, soft, and 

 somewhat flexible ; upper mandible with the dorsal line 

 straight, the ridge narrow, but flattened toward the end, 

 the tip slightly enlarged, obtuse, and a little exceeding that 

 of the lower, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end, 

 and filled by a concave bare membrane ; 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, channelled above, point- 

 ed ; upper mandible internally concave, with a groove on 

 each side, and a medial double row of reversed pointed pa- 

 pillae ; oesophagus narrow, without dilatation ; proventricu- 

 lus oblong ; gizzard large, with very strong and firm lateral 

 muscles, radiated tendons, and dense rugous thin epithe- 

 lium ; intestine long, and of moderate width ; coeca mode- 

 rate, cylindrical. Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, 

 close to the margin. Eyes rather small, eyelids densely 

 feathered. Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Legs 

 of moderate length, very slender ; tibia long, bare for a 

 fourth ; tarsus with numerous narrow scutella ; toes four, 

 small, scutellate ; first diminutive and elevated ; second a 

 little shorter than the third, which is connected with the 

 fourth by a basal web ; claws small, curved, compressed, 

 obtuse. Plumage moderately full, soft, rather blended ; 

 wings very long, pointed, of twenty-five quills ; primaries 

 tapering, first longest ; inner secondaries very elongated and 

 tapering ; tail short, generally doubly emarginate, of twelve 

 narrowed feathers. 



The Sandpipers inhabit the sandy and muddy coasts of 

 the sea, estuaries, and rivers, in autumn and winter, often 

 collecting into large flocks. In summer, they are dispersed 

 over the moors and marshy districts of the northern coun- 

 tries, where they breed, forming a shallow nest on the ground, 



