800 



I'R.ECOCIAL GRALLATUUE8 — LIMICuLi*;. 



In IVnnsylvaiiia tin- t'gj,'s arc luitclicd out early in .hmc; ami there, as elsewhere, 

 only a sinj^'le brood is raised in one season. The nest is always placed in an ()]irn 

 sitiiation ; Init, notwitlistanding this eirciinistanee, it is not easily I'onnd witliout the 

 aid of a good dog trained for tlio puriMtse. In 1S4.'J, in company with my friend liiiiid, 

 I searched in vain in an open plougiied field for the nest of a pair we knew must Ih" 

 near. Its site was not found until after the young had gone — only a few days 

 after (mr first search — the empty egg-shells showing where iu the open ti(dd it was. 

 The female must have kept closely to the nest, even when we were near her, wiiilc 

 her mate was doing his best to delude us. The young are singularly l)eautifid little 

 balls of .soft down, a mottling of white, brown, and lilack. They are eared for liv 

 tluur parents until nearly grown, and from the shell instinctively hide themselves at 

 the approach of danger. 



The eggs of this species — always four in nund)er — vary in length from 1.7".l 

 to l.S(i inches, and in breadth from l.oo to 1.4-1 inches. Their groiuul-color is 

 usually a deej) pinkish drab, and over this are distriljiited small roundish sjxjttings 

 of a burnt-sienna tint. These arc rather sjjarsely scattered over the smaller end of 

 the egg, but become more densely aggregated about the larger portion. In otlicis 

 the ground-eolor is mon^ of a cream-colored dnib, without any ])erceptible shading 

 of pink. In a few the ground is a i)alo pearly-white (^dor, with a faint shading 

 of cream-color. In these the markings are usually blotches of various shades of 

 a purplish slate, much scattered, and overlain by spottings of a deep sepia, which 

 become confluent at the greater end. The shape of the eggs is a slightly roiindcd 

 oval, strongly tapering at one end and rounded at the other; their number is uni- 

 formly t'oui". 



Genus TRINGOIDES, I^onaparte. 



Tringoidts, Bonap, Snggio di una (list. etc. 1831, fiS (tyiip, Tringa hijpolcucos, Linn.). 

 Actitis, BoiE, Isis, 1822, 560. Not of Illigkii, Prodromus, 1811. 



Chau. Upper mandible grooved to tlie terminal fourth ; the bill tapering and rather ariitc. 

 Cleft of mouth only motlerate ; the culmeu about five sixths the commissure. Feathei's exttiul- 



T. macularitis. 



ing rather farther on side of lower jaw than upper, the former reaching as far as the beginning,' of 

 the nostrils ; those of the cliin to about their middle. Hill shorter than the liead, straight, eiiual 

 to the tarsus, which is of the length of middle toe and claw. Bare part of tibia half the tarsus. 

 Outer toe webbed to first joint ; inner cleft nearly or quite to the base. Tail much rounded, nioii. 

 than half the wing. 



