380 CHAEADEIID^. 



or singly, as well as along the creeks of natural harbours, and likewise on the sea-shore 

 during the autumn passage. The flight is somewhat similar to that of the allied 

 species, the bird skimming over the surface of the water for some distance without any 

 motion of the wings except a few rapid beats, followed by another prolonged glide. 



The eggs are four in number and pyriform in shape, with a considerable amount of 

 gloss. The ground-colour varies from cream to pale buflf, with spots and blotches of 

 dark chocolate-brown or black and some underlying inky purple. The spots are small 

 and numerous, and the blotches are frequently confluent over the larger end, where 

 they sometimes form an irregular cap 2*. 



BARTEAMIA. 



Bartramia, Less. Traite d'Orn. p. 553 (1831) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. llus. xxiv. p. 509 (1893). 



A genus peculiar to America, and remarkable for its short bill, which has a slight 

 swelling of the dertrum, and long taU, the latter exceeding the culmen in length. The 

 tarsus is long, measuring more than twice the length of the inner toe and claw. The 

 tail is much graduated, the outer feathers falling short of the middle ones by as much 

 as the length of the hind toe and claw. The feathers of the chin-angle are produced 

 forwards, far beyond the line of the forehead. 



One species only is known, B. longicauda, breeding throughout temperate Xorth 

 America, and visiting the southern continent in winter, at which season specimens 

 have occurred in Europe and even in Australia. 



1. Bartramia longicauda. 



THnga longicauda, Bechst. Kurze Uebers. Latham, p. 453j t. 184 \ 



Bartramius longicaudus, Bp. Rev. et Mag. Zool. 1857, p. 59 ^. 



Bartramia longicauda, Baird, Brewer, & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. i. p. 296 ' ; Zeledon, An. 



Mus. Xac. Costa Rica, 1887, p. 129*; Herrera, La Xat. (2) i. pp. 186% 328'; Cherrie, 



Auk, ix. p. 329 ' ; Richm. Pr. U. S. Nat, Mus. xvi. p. 526'; A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. 



Birds, 2nd ed. p. 96 ' ; EUiot, N. Amer. Shore-Birds, p. 143 " ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. 



Mus. xxiv. p. 509"; Bangs, Auk, 1901, p. 358"; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. ii. p. 50". 

 Actiturus longicauda, Salv. Ibis, 1889, p. 379 ". 

 Tringa bartramia, Wilson, Amer. Om. vii. p. 63, t. 59. fig. 2 ". 

 Actiturus bartramius, Sol. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 230" ; P. Z. S. 1864, p. 372"; Scl. P. Z. S. 1860, 



p. 253 " ; Lawr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. vii. p. 334" ; ix. p. 142 " ; Salv. Ibis, 1864, p. 385 "' ; 



Dnges, La Nat. i. p. 142 ". 

 Actiturus bartranici, Sumichr. La Nat. v. p. 232 ". 



Ptil. Mem. Nigricans, plnmis siDgnlis cinnamomeo vel arenario marginatis ; tectricibTis majoribus alanun, 

 secundariia intimis et scapnlaribns nigro transfasciatis ; tectricibus primariorum et primariis nigricantibTis, 

 his ad apicem vix albo fimbriatis et intus albo fasciatis ; secimdariis bnmneis albo terminatis, extus 

 fulvo indentatis, intns albido fasciatis ; dorso postico, uropygio et supracaudalibiis nigris, his lateralibns 

 annamomeis albo terminatis et nigro fasciatis ; rectricibos cinerascentibiis, nigro trans&sciatis, reliqois 

 cinnamomeis, albo terminatis, et pins minusve regnlariter nigro transfasciatis vel fasciatim maculatis ; 



