TRINGINJE. TRINGA. 71 



Tringa Cinclus and Alpina, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 249, 251. 

 Tringa Variabilis, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 612. Tringa 

 Cinclus, Alpina, and ruficollis, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 735, 

 736. Tringa Cinclus, Dunlin Sandpiper, MacGillivray, Brit. 

 Birds, iv. 



182. TRINGA SUBARQUATA. CURLEW-BILLED SANDPIPER. 



Bill half as long again as the head, and considerably de- 

 curved at the end ; tail with the middle feathers slightly 

 longer than the lateral; tarsus an inch and a quarter long; 

 bill black, feet very dark olive. In winter, the plumage 

 brownish-grey above, each feather with a dusky streak ; the 

 sides and fore part of the neck, with a small portion of the 

 breast, greyish-white, streaked with brownish-grey ; the 

 throat, breast, and abdomen, white ; the tail-coverts white, 

 the tail brownish-grey. In summer, the upper parts of the 

 body black, mottled and streaked with light red ; the sides 

 of the head, the fore part and sides of the neck, and the 

 breast, bright yellowish-red, the neck faintly streaked with 

 dusky ; the tail-coverts white, spotted with brown and red; 

 the tail brownish-grey glossed with green. Young with the 

 feathers of the upper parts greyish-black glossed with green, 

 darker toward the margins, and edged with white ; the fore 

 part of the neck pale reddish, faintly streaked with dusky, 

 the rest of the lower parts white, as are the upper tail-coverts, 

 "which are very narrowly tipped with dusky. 



Male, 8 T ^, 16 T \, 5 T \, 1 &, l^, if, T V Female, 8if, 16. 



In its summer plumage this species is easily distinguished 

 from the Dunlin, the breast being red in the one and black 

 in the other ; and at all seasons it may be known by its white 

 upper tail-coverts. It is not extremely uncommon on our 

 coasts during winter, but is probably often confounded with 

 the species just named. It arrives in the beginning of Sep- 

 tember, and departs in the end of April for more northern 

 countries, it not having been met with breeding in any part 

 of Scotland. Yet it is very extensively distributed, being 

 found in India, at the Cape of Good Hope, in various parts 

 of Europe, and in North America. Its habits are precisely 

 similar to those of the Dunlin. 



Pigmy Curlew. Pigmy Sandpiper. 



Scolopax subarquata, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 658. Tringa 

 subarquata and Numenius Africanus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 

 712. Tringa subarquata, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 609. 



