GRALLjE — SCOLOPACID^E — TRINGA. 
237 
GENUS TRINGA. Brisson. 
Bill moderate, equal to the head or slightly longer, straight or very slightly curved, soft and 
flexible for its whole length, compressed at the base, somewhat dilated and flattened at the 
tip : both mandibles furrowed on each side to their tips. Nostrils basal, linear, pervious, 
covered by a membrane. Hind toe very short, scarcely touching the ground; fore toes 
slender, divided. 
THE PURPLE SANDPIPER. 
Tringa maritima. 
PLATE LXXXVII. FIG. 198. 
(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Tringa maritima, Brunnich, Orn. Boreal. No. 182. 
Striated and Selninger Sandpiper. Pennant, Arct. Zool. Vol. 2, pp. 472, 480. 
T. maritima. Bonaparte, Ann. Lyc. Vol. 2, p. 318. Richardson, F. B. A. Vol. 2, p. 382. Nuttall, Man. 
Orn. Vol. 2, p. 115. Audubon, B. of A. Vol. 5, p. 261, pi. 330. Giraud, Birds of Long 
island, p. 236. 
Characteristics. Bill longer than the head, scarcely curved at the point, compressed and 
orange-yellow at the base ; rump black : feet yellow. Middle tail- 
feathers longest. Tibia feathered low down. Length, 9*0. 
Description. Bill slender, slightly curved. Only a small space of the tibia above the 
joint bare ; tarsus shorter than the bill. Tail short and rounded. 
Color. Above purplish black, varied with white and rufous. Head and neck uniform in 
color, without spots or stripes. Quills brownish black ; their shafts white. Breast, sides and 
belly whitish, with blackish spots and streaks. Winter, beneath grey ; the purple tints above 
not so distinct. 
I know little of this species, except from a specimen which I obtained on Long island in 
June. It is, I believe, exceedingly rare on our coast. It is a northern species, breeding at 
Hudson’s Bay ; the eggs are yellowish grey, with crowded brown spots at the larger end. 
It occasionally extends its southwardly migration to the shores of this State. 
