118 



PR.KCOCIAL ilKAM.ATollKd — LlMlCoLE. 



they waniK'red nloiiK tlu' \hw\\. Tlicy wt-rf tht> noisiest of all tlio tViitluTt'd triU' frc- 

 (|iU'iitiiiK the ishuitl, and tlu'ir liursh ami vdciliTouM cries were licunl nil the day hmj^. 

 After some seareli he siii'<'eed('(l ui tiiHliiiK' two nests, (hie, coiitaiiiiiiK a siiiKh' fresh- 

 hiid t%% was fouml, .lime (1, on the extreme point of a liiKh elitl jiittiiiK over the sea; 

 the Hpcond, olttaini'd a f«w (hiyH hiter, wiw on a small islet. The nests were nide 

 affairs, heiiij,' sliKlit hollows in the pelilily di'tritiis, with hits of stone hidiiijht from 

 elsewhere. There was no ^^vmh or any lining' softer than the stones themselves. 

 In ono east! the two e^^s had b«'en incubated, and were i)rol»al>ly all tliat would 

 have been laiil. The cj;>,'S were untlistin^'uishalile from those of the jtiif/i'ntns. Their 

 fjround-color was a faint ^''iiyi-'^h dralt, |irofiisely marked with irref,'ular blotches of 

 black. They measured L'.L'T Ity l..V.>, L'.l.".* by LIS, and L'.lH by \.n'J inches. 



Eggs of this species ol)tained by Mr. Hepburn on I'liget Sound average ;i.l7 by 

 !.")'» inches. Their ground-color is a light olivaceous drab, spotted with rounded 

 markings distributed in a general, but scattered, manner over the entire egg. These 

 si)ots are of a «hirk bistre, almost black; and these eggs differ greatly from those of 

 the piiUintiiH. From the dilTcrent aspects presented by the eggs procured by Mr. 

 Hepburn and Mr. Ilenshaw, it would seem that the eggs of this species must vary, 

 and that while some closely resumble those of the eastern species, others are quite 

 different. 



Family STREPSILID^E. — The Tuknstones. 



Strepailincc, "G. R. (iUAV, 1840." 



Slvrpnilidit, UiDfiw. ItiiU. Ills. .Stiitc Liihomt. Nnt. Hlfit.no. 4, May, 1881, p. 194. 



Cindiim, "O. 11. UiiAV, 1841 ;" HuikII. III. 1871, •.'-'. 



CliAU. Eather small, l*lover-like birds, dillering from the true Plovers {Chnrn- 

 flriida:) cliieHy in the more robust feet, without trace of web between the toes, 

 the well-developed hiiul toe, and the stronj:; claws ; the toes with a lateral mar- 

 gin, forming a broad flat under surface (especially in Aphrizn); the bill of one 

 genus (SfrqMlan) peculiar. The two genera may be distinguished by the following 

 characters : — . 



Btrepailaa. Bill compres.'<e(l and pointed tenniimlly, somewhat upturned at the end, the cuhncn 

 straight or even slightly concave ; tarsus not longer than the hill ; tail slightly rounded. 



Aphrlza. Bill slightly swcdlen turininully, the terminal portion of the culnien decidedly couve.\ ; 

 tarsus decidedly longer than the bill ; tail slightly emurginated. 



Genus STREFSILAS, Illiger. 



Morinrlla, Meyeii & Woi.f, Tnschb. Viig. Deutschl. II. 1810, 383 (type, Tringa interprcs, LiXN.). 

 Strcpsilas, Illiged, Prodromus, 1811 (same ty[)e). 



Char. Fornj robust, the head small, neck short, wings long and pointed, feet stout. Bill 

 straight along the culnien (or else slightly concave above), somewhat upturned terminally, com- 

 ])ressed toward the end and pointed. Wings reaching beyond the tail, the first primary longest, 

 the tertials not reaching to end of the primaries. Tail slightly rounded. Tarsus decidedly longer 

 than the middle toe, the latter shorter than the bill. 



The two species of this genus, both of which are American (one of them exclusively so), may 

 be distinguished as follows : — 



