SCOLOPACIDvE — THE f^NIPE FAMILY — EURYNORIIYNCIIUS. 



309 



Hah. Ill Hiiniiiu'i-, KustPiii Sibi-riii, especially iilonj^ Arctic coast ; accidciitul on shores of Alaska 

 iiortii of Ik'lirin^'V Straits ; in winii^r, " nnmtlis of the Uuiiges and east coast of Bay of licnfjtal," and 

 diiici' |i(utioiis of Soutiii'aslcrn Asia (IIautixc;). 



Sr. Char. ^' Jh-^criptian (jididt in vintir): Hill black, lonjjer than tlic lii-ad, flat, clilated con- 

 -idi'raUly at the extremity in a rlionilioidal shajie. '["(tii^'ne broad and smooth. Forehead, cheeks, 

 lliruat, and nnder i)arts pure wlnle ; crown, nape and sidi's of neck, back, wings, and npper tail- 

 cdverts ilusky brown, eacli featlier margined more or less with jiale gray. Wings long and 

 pujiilcd ; shafts of the primaries white ; liist (luill-featlier tlie h)ngest. Tail short, rounded, cnn- 

 ,~i-tiiig of twidve feathers, the two nuddie featliers tile h>ngest and darkest in color. Legs and toes 

 lil;ii ii, nioih'ralely long, slender, tliree toes in front, one behind, margined ah)ng the sides; a sliglit 

 iiiiiiibrane connecting liie base of tlie middle and out(r toe on each foot. Total length (i.Od inches ; 

 liijl, l.(Hi ; wing, from carpus, ;5.7(>: tarsus, .!)(). (E.xempl. typ. in Alus. Upsal.yiWe itiictt. n'lt.). 



'■■Ailulf ill f'lninitrr (iiillierto undescribed) : Hill as above. Head, neck, breast, nnd back ferru- 

 ginous ; tlie feathers of the head, nape, and iiai k with dark-brown centres ; those of the throat and 

 liiiiist slightly margined with white. I'nder parts, from the breast downward, becoming grad- 

 ually whiter toward the tail. Primaries somewhat darker than in winter. Legs and toes black. 

 (I'Aciiipl. in Mus. Acad. O.xon.)." — Hahtin(1, "Ibis," I8()0, p. 428. 



Yduiiil (So. 81 t;U, U. S. Nat. Mu.s. Port Providence, Plover Bay, Silieria ; August; Dr.s. 

 |).\M, iV- 1>i;a.n') : Scapulars and interscapulars black centrally, brownish gray beneath the sur- 

 face, and broiiiUy bordered temiin'dly with soiled whitish, the anterior feathers, however, both of 

 scapulars nnd interscapulars margined with rusty ; wing l)rowni.sh gray, the feathers darker cen- 

 trally, with shafts ([uite dusky ; greater coverts tipped with white, I'orming a distinct bar across 

 till' wing ; reiniges dusky, the ba.siil portion of secondaries and inner primaries white ; pileum dull 

 li>;lit grayish, spotted with dull black, the feathers edged with dull rusty ; remainder of head, 

 neck, and lower parts soiled wliite, clouded anteriorly with liglit grayish lirowii, but nearly jiure 

 white and ijuite immaculate po.steriorly. 15111 black ; legs and feel bhickish brown. Wing, U.35 ; 

 culnien, .8(» ; greatest breadth of maxilla, .45 ; tarsus, .80 ; middle toe, .(iO. 



Tlie habits and g:(M)grai)lii('iil distrilmtionof this very roiiiiirkable form iirc very far 

 fidiii bi'inijr ■well understood, though the regions it visits during tlie breeding-season 

 iiiid in its migrations are a little better known. It was first referred to liy Liniifcus 

 as having some supposed resemblanee to the Sjioonbill, and for nearly a century was 

 only known t'nnn a unique example in the Museum of Uitsahi, whieh was said to 

 luive been ]n'oeured fnuu Surinam; but this was evidently an error. It has since 

 been referred to by Hanend't as ;i bird of (iuiana; but he either followed Linnanis or 

 mistook for it some other species. Lesson gave as its liabitat the Arctic. IJeglon of 

 botii continents, but also stated that an examiile, shot near Paris, was in one of the 

 nuiseums of that city ; and l>onaparte giive it, in his '' Geograjihical List," ;is a Euro- 

 pean species. Neither of tliese statements is now credited, inasmucli ;is there is no 

 eviik'uce that any example of this species has been taken in J'hirope. 



Professor A. Newton, in an exlianstive paper ("Ibis," 1801), jip. 4l^(S— 434), assigns 

 to it a place among tlu; Waders, lietween J'Jreintcfc.sjx'frijiriifun an;l Tringa siifidrquofit, 

 and he has with great jiaius pre]>ared a list of all the examples of the Si)oon-billed 

 Sandpiper known to have been taken. The locality of the type-exam])le remains 

 undiscovered. The known localities are Edmondstone's Island, Saugur Sand, 1836; 

 Arracan, in the same year; Ciileutta, 1840; mouth of the Ganges, 1840; Amher.st in 

 Tcnasserim, 1846; three taken in ISot! and twelve in 18o9, in Cliittagong; and one, 

 tlie only exaiu])le known to have been secured in summer plumage, from Ikdiring's 

 Straits. The last-named was taken by the expedition nnder Cajitain Jlooro. and 

 is now in the new Museum of Oxford. Its sujiposed ])resence on both shores of 

 behring's Straits in the breeding-season is the occasion of its being placed in the 

 Ninth American fauiui, though Captain Moore's exam]»le is given as having come 

 from the northeast corner of Asia (Proc. Zool. Hoc. 1859, !>. 201). 



