TRINGIN^E. TRINGA. 73 



with a lanceolate dusky spot; middle feathers of the tail 

 black, edged with red, the rest margined with pale grey. 



Male, 7, 14, 4, 14, 1, &> T V 



Extensively distributed on the continent, and extending to 

 India. This species, little understood, is liable to be con- 

 founded with individuals of Tringa Cinclus, and, in descrip- 

 tion, with Tringa subarquata, from which latter especially it 

 is widely different. It bears more resemblance to a Snipe 

 than any of the other species, and might, with some propriety, 

 constitute a genus by itself, as indeed it has been made to 

 do by many authors. 



Tringa platyrhincha, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 616. Tringa 

 platyrhincha, Flat-billed Sandpiper, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, 

 vol. iv. 



185. TRINGA MINUTA. LITTLE SANDPIPER. 



Bill about the length of the head, straight, slender, scarce- 

 ly enlarged at the end ; tail doubly emarginate ; tarsus ten- 

 twelfths long ; bill and feet dusky. Plumage in winter 

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

 sides of the neck paler, of its lower part tinged with brown ; 

 the throat, fore-neck, breast, and abdomen white ; the middle 

 tail-coverts dusky, the lateral white ; the tail-feathers ash- 

 grey edged with white, the two middle greyish-brown. In 

 summer the upper parts yellowish-red, spotted with brown- 

 ish-black ; the throat, breast, and other lower parts white ; 

 the lower anterior and lateral parts of the neck reddish-grey, 

 streaked with brown; a dusky loral band, and a whitish 

 streak over the eye. Young with the upper parts variegated 

 with brownish-black and yellowish-red; the forehead and 

 cheeks brownish-white ; the loral space brown ; the lower 

 part of the sides of the neck brownish-grey ; the throat, fore- 

 neck, and other lower parts white. 



Male, 6, 12, 4 T V, {%, {%, T V and , T ^. Female, 6 T 2 ? . 



A few individuals of this species have been obtained at 

 various times, generally in autumn, on the southern shores of 

 England. It occurs abundantly in autumn and winter in 

 Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Dalmatia. 



Tringa minuta, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. ii. 625. Tringa 

 minuta, Selby. Illustr. ii. 147. Tringa minuta, Little Sand- 

 piper, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 



186. TRINGA TEMMINCKII. TEMMINCK'S SANDPIPER, 

 Bill a little shorter than the head, slender, scarcely en- 



