SCOLOPACID.E - THE SNIPK FAMILY — ARQUATELLA. 



221 



fiofl stmt, raises its wings over its l)ack, and then slowly folds thorn. The bird is 

 crepuscular in its habits, wliicli in sonic rcspocts appear to be different from those of 

 iiKist of its family. It is found almost exclusively on rocky shores of the sea, and 

 sliuiis sandy beaches. It is seldom known to occur far inland. It is a very unsus- 

 picious bird, and wlien intent on its food seems to ha almost entirely regardless 

 of the near presence of man. Its flight is rapid, and can be long sustained in its 

 iingrations. This bird is known to lauiters as tlu; "Hock Snipe." An egg of this 

 siit>cies from Greenland has a ground of a drab color tinged with olivaceous. Tlie 

 e,i,'g is pyriform in shape, but is more oval than that of Arf/iiate/fa ptUomemis, which 

 ill some respects it closely resembles. The egg is marked with blotches of s(>pia- 

 brown, and these are more or less diffused over the entire surface. Tlie eggs in 

 my cabinet — one from Greenland, and others from different localities — average 1.4G 

 inches in length, by l.lO in tlieir greatest breadth. In some the olivaceous tinge of 

 the ground is much deeper than in others. The s|)ots vary in their number, size, 

 and distribution, in some the smaller end being nearly unspotted. 



Arquatella Couesi. 



THE ALEUTIAN SANDPirEB. 



? Tringa ai-qnalrlla, (part) Pali.. Zooj;. ]!o.sso-As. II. 1821, 100 (spec, ox Ins Cuiilinn). 



Tnii<rt mnritimn," Buunn." Dam, & IJaxn. Tr. Chicago Acad. 1. 18G9, 291 (.St. ilichnel's, Alaska). — 



Fix.scii, Al>h. Nat. III. 1872, 6r> (Alaska). 

 Ti-iiKjii (Pilidiui) (nncrianin, Dai. I.. I'r. t'al. Acad. .Sci. Feb. 1873 (Aleutians). 

 At-qiMlrUn Cditcsi, HiDcw. Bull. Xutt. Oiii. Club, V. July, 1880, l(iO (Aleutian Islands) ; Nora. N. 



Am. B. 1881, no. 531. — Coue-s Check List, 2d ed. 1882, no. 621. 



Sp. Char. Similar to A. mnrifhiia, I'ni'XX., but uvoraging ,'*liglitly sniallcr, and the plumage 

 appreciably ilifTcrent at all agc.'t and sea.sons. Adult hreediiuj-dresx; Above, fuliginous-slate, the 

 leathers of the pileuni broadly edged, those of the doi-sal region (including the sciMiulai's) widely 

 bordered, with rusty ochraceous or bright ciniiamon (a few of the scupulars and interscapuhirs 

 tipped with white in some sjieciinens), the central area ol each feather nearly black, or imich darker 

 tliaii the wings and rinnp ; les.ser wing-coverts slightly, and middle coverts broadly, bordered 

 tcniiinally with white ; greater coverts widely tipped with white, forming a conspicuous bar across 

 the wing ; three or four of the inner secondaries chiefly wiiite, the otliers, also the inner primaries, 

 iiariuwly skirted and tipped with white. Rump, upper tail-coverts, and middle tail-feathers, 

 uiiit'orm fuliginous-dusky, the remaining rectrices paler, or dull cinereous. A conspicuous whitish 

 superciliary stripe, extending b.ack to the nape, and confluent with the dull whitisii of the uiiiler 

 siile of the head, thus posteriorly bounding a large sooty-brown auricular area ; anterior portion of 

 the lores, with the forehead, dull smoky grayish ; neck, juguluni, and breast, dirty whitish (some- 

 times soiled witli dingy buff), and clouded or spotted with dull slate, sooty plumbeous, or diLsky 

 black, this sometimes forming a large patch on each side of the breast ; remaining lower parts pure 

 wliite, the sides with chain-like eries of brownish f-laty spots mixed with streaks, the crissum 

 streaked with dusky ; lining of .be wing pure white, the border brownish gray Bill, legs, and 

 feet brownish black in the dried skin ; iris brown. In fresh specimens, " feet, legs, and l)ase of liill 

 diuk greenish yellow; terniiiual two thirds of bill black, or very dark brown" (Nklson, MS.). 

 Il'intiir plumafie : Above, soft smoky plumbeous, the scapulars and interscapulars glossy purplish 

 dusky centrally, the plumbeous bonlers to the feathers causing a S(iuamate appearance ; head and 

 neck unifovm plumbeous, except the throat an<l a supraloral patch, which are streaked whitish ; 

 juj,'uluin squamate<l with white, the breast similarly but more broadly marked. Wings, etc., as in 

 summer. Yoiiwj, first plmruKje: Scapulars and interscapulars Idack, broadly bordered with bright 

 rusty and bulTy white, the latter chiefly on the longer and outer scapulars and posterior part of the 

 back ; wing-coverts broadly bordered with buffy white ; pileuin streaked black and ochraceous ; 

 jugulum and breast pale l)uff, or buffy white, streaked with dusky. Dovmy young : Above, bright 



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