i:! 



II'' 



mi 



104 



CHECK LIST OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



639. Machetes pugnax (L.) Cuv. b 544. c 437, ii r.54. (!e.) 



Ruff(cJ); Reeve (9). 



640. Bartramia longicauda (Bcchst.) Cones, n 545. c 438. R 855. 



Itartramian Tattler. 



641. Tryngites rufescens (V.) Cab. B 646. c 439. R 55c. 



Biift-brenstcd Sandpiper. 



642. Heteroscelus incanus (Gm.) Cones. B 542. c 440. R 553, 



V lulering Tattler. 



643. Numonius longirostris Wils. b 540. c 441. r oss. 



Long-billed Curlew. 



644. Numenius phaeopus (L.) Lath. B — . c — . R sci. (0.) 



European Whimbrel. 





630. Mach-5'-tcs pug'-nax. Or. /uaxr;T^t, a fi(il)tcr, cotiibntiint, in nllusion to tlic pu<jnni'ity of 

 tht> iniile in tlio bri-oding sinisoii ; /uoxo/uai, I fiijlit ; naxri. a biitllo. — I<at. pwjmix, ])ut;na- 

 cious, combative ; /(H'/do, I Hi;lit ; /m'/H'i, a battlo ; jyroporly, listiciiffs, as tiio jji'linilivo 

 niodi' of ti^hting; ftwjmtm, the fist; root pmj, wlience come the wiiole set of words, and 

 otiiers, as l>!l'Jiii!l, &f. 



640. B5r-traivi'-I-a lon-gl-cafld'-S. To Williani Hartram, " pranilfatlior of Aiiiorican orni- 



tliolo};y." — I'lie usual >;eiierif raine, nclitunis, is froui tlio (ir. okti'tjjs, a doer by tlu' sea, 

 a beacii-inhabiter, a " ioiiKsliorenian," from o«n^, the seasiuire, and oSpo, tail. — Lat. 

 10111)11.1, long, and rnndu, tail. 



This is Arliliiriis hmimmliis of the orig. ed. See Coucs, Bull. Nutt. Club, v, 1880, 

 p. 100. 



641. Tryn'-gl-tes ru-fes'-cens. See '/V/ik/h, No. 020, Here we have another form of the word, 



nearer the original Gr. rpvyyas, with the termination -ttjs, tes; this sullix eonnnonly 

 denoting active ageney, as the English -or, for example, makes worker from work. — 

 T^at. rii/'ismis, present participle of rnf"! sro, I grow reddish. 



643. H6t-6-r6'-sc61-us in-can'-us. Gr. tVfpoj, opposite, ilifferent, otherwise, and a-Kf\os, the 

 leg, shin ; from the peculiar seutellation of the leg. — Lat. incnniis, very gray, quite 

 hoary, as the bird is : in and ctiims. 



643. Nu-m5'-nT-fls 15n-gl-r5s'-trls. A curious etymology is this, if the derivation assigned be 



true. Gr. vtos, new, young, and /u^i/, a month, nvvri. the moon; the narrow arcuate bill 

 being likeneil to the new crescent moon. The same word is seen in mrni.iriis, a kind of 

 lens, but primarily ami literally a little moon. Hut numniinx miglit also be derived 

 directly from immi'ii, a nod, a bending of the head downward and forward (lience assent, 

 command, and hence a divinity, who nods .■issent or expresses its will by s.ich gesture) ; 

 Gr. vfviia, a nod, vtvai, I nod; very applicable to the attitude of the bird. Whi<'hever 

 of these derivations we approve, they aniount to practically the same thing; for iiiiniriiius 

 ••ertainly refers to the shape of the bill, being used by the ornithologists of the heroic 

 ago as synonymous witli arquaUi or nroitiln. — Lat. Iimijimatris, long-billed; loiiiiiis and 

 rnntnim. — "Curlew" is not an imitation of the binl's voice, but a mangling of the 

 French name (onr-Hfii, "run-place," from the coursing of the birds; compare coiirlis, 

 roiirli/, coitrlaii, rocnrli. &c. 



644. N. pha5'-8-pQs. Gr. (pat6s, dark colored, dusky, graj', swarthy ; its exact meaning is 



expressed when we say " gray of the morning: " related to <palya>, I appear; iroPt, foot. 

 " Whimbrel " is apparently Anglo-Saxon; related to whim, whimsical, in the sense of 

 flighty, a gadabout. 



Not in the orig. ed. Only Nortlt American as a bird of Greenland. 



