274 



PR.ECOCIAL GUALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



Sr. Chah. Very Hiiuiliir to 7'. rnelaiwleucua, but snialk'r uiiil uioru Hlender. Bill nitLcr ioiigci 

 tliim tile heail, strai^^lit, slemler, rather cimiiire.ised ; wing Idiik, pointed ; tail nliort ; Ivit^t loiij,', 

 lower half of the tibia nuked ; toe^^ moderate, ulender, niarj,'ineil, the outer and ndddle uiiitnl 

 nt base. 



Adiilty summer }duina(ji' : Above, ashy, mixed with ragjieil blotidien of black, this bavin;,' a ten- 

 dency to I'orm re^jidar transverse bars on the secondaries and scaimlars. Crown unci nupe wiih 

 lonj,'itiidinul streaks of l)lack on a j,'rayish-white t,'rounil ; upper tail-i',overt« pure white, widi 

 trauHVurse bars of dusky j tail white, the middle feathers ushy, and uU with transverse, rather n;j- 





rower, bars of ash. Primaries and their coverts plain dusky black. Lower parts white, the jugii- 

 lum and breast densely streaked with blackish, and the sides marked with more transverse 

 markings of the same color. 



Winter plnvmge : Above, ashy, sometimes nearly unbroken, but generally slightly variegateti, 

 especially on the scapulars and wing-coverts, witii transverse spots of dusky, and whitish edgings 

 and dots along the margin of the feather.s. Streaks almost absent from the iiead, neck, and jui!ii- 

 lum, which are nearly uniform light ashy ; the chin, throat, and supraloial stripe white. In otln r 

 respects like the summer plumage. Youmj: Like the winter adult, but the light markings alu vu 

 more or less tingetl with pale brown or dull ochraceous. 



Total length about 10.50-1 l.(H» inches ; extent, 20.00-21.00; wing, 5.50-0.50 ; culmen, 1.30- 

 1.55 ; tarsus, 2.00. Bill black ; iris dark brown ; legs and feet bright yellow. 



This species is e.xceedingly similar to T. melanolcucus in jdumage, but diU'ei-s in tlie following 

 particulars : in the summer adult the upper parts are more transversely spotted, with a less amount 

 of black, while the lower parts are without well-defined transverse .sjiota or bars of black ; in tiiu 

 winter jilumage, the head, neck, and jugulum are nearly uniform ashy, instead of distinctly 

 streaked. 



The European analogue of T. fluvijics is tlie T. stagnatiliK (Bechst.), the type of the genus, it 

 resenddes the American species very closely, but may be immeiliately distinguished by the rump 

 being wholly pure white, instead of heavily spotted with grayish and dusky. Thi:; peculiarity, 

 being shared by several other Palaiarctic species, compared with their American allie.s, presents a 

 very interesting problem bearing upon the nuestion of geograjducid variation. This curious panil- 

 lelism was first called attention to by one of the authors of this work in the " .A merican Naturalist '' 

 for February, 1874 (p. 108), and the following list of species presented in which it had been 

 noted : — 



American {rump dusky spotted). 

 Rhyacophilus solitarius, 

 Totanus flavipes, 

 Numenius Hudsonicus, 

 Ha;matopus palliatus. 



European {nimp immaculate ivhite). 

 R. ochropus, 

 T. stagnatilis, 

 N. phoeopus, 

 H. ostralegus. 



The well-known " Yellow-legs " of Eastern sportsmen has a very abundant distri- 

 bution throughout all the United States, not excepting the immediate neighborlujod 

 of the Pacific ; for even there individual examples have been recently reported. It 



