248 TOWNSEND'S OYSTER-CATCHER. 



ters of an inch ; tarsus of moderate length, somewhat compressed, co- 

 vered all round with hexagonal scales ; toes rather short and fleshy, 

 the hind toe wanting, the second shorter than the fourth, the third con- 

 siderably longer, all scaly at the base above, scutellate towards the end, 

 flattened and broad beneath, with thick margins, and connected at the 

 base by short webs, of which the outer is longer. Claws rather small, 

 compressed, blunt, that of the middle toe largest, with a somewhat di- 

 lated thin inner edge. 



Plumage of the head and neck short and blended, of the back ra- 

 ther compact and slightly glossed, the lower parts blended, the fea- 

 thers in general ovate and rounded. Wings long, acute ; primaries 

 tapering toward the end, but obtuse, the first longest, the second two- 

 twelfths shorter, and exceeding the third by three-twelfths ; secon- 

 daries broad and rounded, the inner much elongated and tapering. 

 Tail short, nearly even, of twelve rather broad, rounded feathers, of 

 which the lateral are scarcely shorter than the middle. 



Bill vermilion, paler toward the end. Edges of eyelids vermilion ; 

 iris yellow. Feet blood-red, claws dusky. The plumage is chocolate- 

 brown, darker and tinged with bluish-grey on the head, neck, and 

 breast ; the under surface of the quills light brownish-grey, their shafts 

 whitish. Many of the upper wing-coverts are narrowly tipped with 

 brownish- white. 



Length to end of tail 20 inches ; bUl along the ridge Sj^ ; along the 

 edge of lower mandible S/s, its greatest height beyond the nostrils |^ ; 

 wing from flexure 11 ; tail 4:j2 ; tarsus 2 /^j; inner toe |^, its claw ^ ; 

 middle toe l^f, its claw /^ ; outer toe li''^, its claw ^|. 



This species is larger than the preceding, but its plumage is [si- 

 milar in texture and colouring. Besides its much greater size, it dif- 

 fers in the form of the bill, which is much longer, much deeper, more 

 compressed, and distinctly ascending or slightly recurvate, the lower 

 mandible especially, which in the other is quite straight. The former 

 species also has the feet white, and the claws pale, whereas in this 

 they seem to have been red, with the claws dusky. 



