210 PRiECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL.E. 



Mr. MacFai'lane writes: "The nest from which these eggs were taken was situated 

 between two small brackish lakes near the sea-sliore. One of our party saw the 

 female get off ; and when the nest was approached by him she uttered a shrill note 

 of alarm. After searching about for a few minutes, he failed to find the eggs ; and 

 he then determined to hide himself, and from his concealment ascertain where the 

 female would alight on her return. In a short time she was seen to return, accom- 

 panied by three companions, all of whom looked and moved about ; but not discover- 

 ing anything, seemed to hold a brief consultation, after which they separated, the 

 female to her nest. Another search failed to discover the eggs ; and the female again 

 returned with the same birds, who app)eared to be in a state of great excitement, 

 judging from the chattering they kept up. After a while they again sejjarated ; when 

 the nest was found, and the parent secured. The report of the gun brought the 

 others once more to the spot ; but they beat a hasty retreat. The nest was a mere 

 depression in the midst of some hay, and lined with the same and a few withered 

 leaves." 



The eggs of this species exhibit great variations in their appearance, in conse- 

 quence of the differences in the size, the manner of distribution, and the number of 

 the spots. The ground is a light drab, and the markings are of a pure bright sepia. 

 In one set (S. I. No. IIL'72) of four eggs, the nest — a mere depression in the ground. 

 pn the border of a small lake in the midst of marshy ground — was lined with with- 

 ered grasses. In this set the markings are large, pronounced, and distinct, sparsely 

 distributed around the smaller end, and more numerous and occasionally confluent 

 about the obtuse end. They are pyriform in shape, and the smaller end is very 

 sharjjly defined. They average 1.25 inches in length, by .86 in breadth. Another set 

 (No. 11271) of four eggs in a nest found placed between two small lakes, and lined 

 witli withered grasses and leaves, was obtained in the Barren Grounds, near Fort 

 Ajiderson. In these eggs the spots are much finer, more numerous about the smaller 

 end, and there very fine, a little larger and more confluent about the larger extremity, 

 and nearly concealing the grayish white or light drab-colored ground. These meas- 

 ure l.ir> inches by .85. Four eggs (No. 11273) found on an island in Franklin Bay, 

 July 4, have markings still more miiuite and numerous, universally diffused, and 

 more or less confluent over the entire egg, concealing the ground, and having appar- 

 ently very little resemblance to No. 11272. Four eggs (No. 17(141) were found by 

 Mr. L. M. Turner, May 28, 1874, at St. Michael's. Their ground-color is a light 

 grayish butf, thickly spotted with reddish sepia and darker sepia, chiefly on the 

 larger end. Their measurements are as follows : 1.20 by .80 inches ; 1.25 by .85 ; 

 1.25 by .90 ; 1.25 by .85. 



Genus TRING-A, Linn.^eus. 



Tringa, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, 1758, 148 ; i-d. 12, 17«6, 247 (type T. canutus, Liw.). 



Char. Body robust ; bill and legs .short, the former straii,dit, widened terminnlly, and soarucly 

 longer than the head ; tarsus about equal to the liill, or a little .shorter ; middle toe about two 

 thirds the tarsus. Wings long and pointed, reaching beyond the end of the tail. 



Tlie above characters separate at once this genus from Arquatdla, the one most nearly related, 

 but which has the bill much more compressed, slightly but decidedly decurved toward the end, 

 and much longer than the tarsus ; the latter scarcely, if any, longer than the middle toe ; the 

 wings shorter, etc. The single species T. cmtutus is the largest of American Sandpipers, and among 

 the largest known species of this group ; only one, the Arqmtdla crasdrostris (Tejim. & Schleo.) 

 of Eastern Asia exceeding it in size. 



