382 CHAEADEIID^. 



The nest is placed on the ground, being a mere depression, in some open spot on the 

 prairie, generally near water ; it is slightly lined with grass ^°. 



The eggs are four in number, mostly of a very broad-oval form, though soine are 

 narrow and lengthened, while others are pyriform. The ground-colour is creamy or 

 buff, with small spots and blotches of umber-brown and underlying pale purple, 

 collected somewhat towards the larger end of the egg, but not forming a cap. 



EREUNETES. 



Ereunetes, Illiger, Prodr. p. 262 (1811) ; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. I^Ius. xxiv. p. 514 (1896). 



The present genus forms the connecting-link between the Tattlers and the Snipes 

 and Sandpipers, being very much like the Stints in general appearance, but in structure 

 agreeing with the Totaninse. It belongs to the short-billed group of the latter sub- 

 family, the culmen being less than the tail in length. The tarsus is short, not being 

 so long as the tail. The bill is flattened, and somewhat widened towards the tip, and 

 the feathers on the chin-angle extend nearly as far as the line of the frontal feathers. 

 The outer and inner toes are connected to the middle toe by a very distinct basal web. 



Two forms of this Sandpiper are recognized by American naturalists — an Eastern and a 

 Western race, the latter being a larger bird, with a longer bill and more ruddy plumage. 

 Dr. Bowdler Sharpe, however, asserts that every possible gradation exists between the 

 two races, which occur together both in their summer and winter habitats. 



1. Ereunetes pusillus. 



. La petite Alouette-de-Mer de S. Domingue, Briss. Orn. v. p. 222, t. 25. fig. 2 \ 

 Tringa pusilla, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 252''; Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vog. p. 3'; Cab. J. f. Orn. 



1863, p. 59*; Wagler, Isis, 1831, p. 521^; Scl. P. Z. S. 1856, p. 311 ^ 

 Ereunetes pusillus, Baird, Brew., & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Anier. i. p. 205^; Ridgw. Pr. U. S. 



Nat. Mus. X. p. 578'; Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. Charadr. p. 402'; A. O. U. Check-1. 



N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 90 " ; ElKot, N. Amer. Shore-Birds, p. 98 " ; Sharpe, Cat. 



Birds Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 514'' ; Gates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. ii. p. 51, t. 2. figs, 6, 7". 

 Ereunetes petrificatus, Scl. & Salv. Ibis, 1859, p. 229 "; Salv, Ibis, 1865, p. 191 " ; 1889, p. 379 " ; 



Dresser, Ibis, 1866, p. 37". 

 Ereunetes occidentalis, Lawr. Pr. Acad. Philad. 1864, p. 107 "^ Allen, Bull. Amer. Mus. N. H. v. 



p. 33 " ; A. G. U. Check^l. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 91 " ; Elliot, N. Amer. Shore- 

 Birds, p. 100 ^\ 

 Ereunetes pusillus, var. occidentalis, Lawr. Bull. U. S. Nat, Mus. no. 4, p, 47"; Sumichr. La Nat. 



V. p. 232''. 

 Ereunetes pusillus occidentalis, Ridgw. Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus. iii. p. 200"; Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. 



Charadr. p. 403 ". 



PtU. Mem. Brunneus, rhachidibus indisfcincte nigris, supracandalibus nigricantibus, his lateralibus albis ■ 

 rectricibus duabus medianis nigricantibus, reliquis cinerascenti-brunneis ; alia dorso eoncoloribus 



