SCOLOPACID^, SNIPE, ETC. — GEN. 220, 221. 261 



tarsus about 2. Above blackish, with a slight greenish reflection, varie- 

 gated with tawny and whitish ; below, pale tawny of varying shade, 

 bleaching on throat and belly ; jugnlum with streaks, breast and sides with 

 arrowheads and bars, of blackish; axillars and lining of wings pure 

 white, black-barred ; quills blackish, with white bars on the inner webs ; 

 tail varied with tawny, black and white, chiefly in bars; bill and legs pale, 

 former black-tipped. N. Am., abundant, migratory; a highly esteemed 

 game bird found usually in flocks, in fields, not necessarily near water; 

 feeds chiefly on insects. Wils., vii, 63, pi. 59, f. 2; Aud., v, 248, pi. 

 327; NuTT., ii, 168 ; Cass, in Bd., 737 barteamius. 



220. Genus TEYNGITES Cabanis. 



lA » / Buff-breasied SandjnjKr. Bill extremely small and slender, appearing 

 the more so because of the extension of the feathers on its base — on the 

 upper mandible, quite to the nostrils, nevertheless not reaching nearly so far 

 as on the sides of the lower, and the interramal space completely filled ; 

 gape reaching beyond base of culnien ; basal webbing of toes rudimentary, 

 hardly noticeable; tail rounded, with projecting central feathers; 7-8; 

 wing 5-5J ; tail 2^ ; tarsus 1^ ; middle toe and claw, and bill, under an inch. 

 Quills largely white on the inner web, and with beautiful black marbling or 

 mottling, best seen from below ; tail unbarred, gray, the central feathers 

 darker, all with subterminal black edging and white tips ; crown and upper 

 parts blackish, the feathers with whitish and tawny edging, especiallj^ on the 

 wiugs ; sides of the head, neck all round, 

 and under parts, pale rufous, or fawn color, 

 speckled on the neck and breast with dusky ; 

 bill black; feet greenish-yellow. N. Am., 

 generally distributed in open couutr^^, but 

 apparently not abundant; a remarkable bird '^'' 



■^ '■ •' . Fig. 173. Buff-breasted Saudpiper. 



both in form aud coloration, in the latter 



respect somewhat resembling the foregoing, with which it shares many 



habits. NuTT., ii, 113; Aud., V, 264,pl. 331 ; Cass, in Bd., 739. eufescens. 



221. Genus HETEROSCELUS Baird. 



J^H Wandering Tattler. Bill straight, stout, compressed, grooved about | its 

 length, gape reaching beyond base of culmen ; legs rather short, rugous, 

 reticulate, scutellate only in front of the tarsus ; outer toe with an evident 

 basal web, inner with a rudimentary one ; lOJ ; wing 6J ; tail 3^ ; bill 1| ; 

 tarsus 1^; tail unbarred; plumage variable, generally uniform plumbeous- 

 gray above, below white shaded on breast aud sides, or barred on the latter, 

 with the color of the upper parts. A species of almost universal distribution 

 on the coasts and islands of the Pacific, described under at least twelve 

 difterent names, without counting its various generic appellations. H. 

 brevipes Cass, in Bd., 734 incanus. 



