390 CHAEADEDD^. 



was the most abundant 2. In Costa Eica Mr. Cherrie found that it arrived with 

 Bartram's Sandpiper, and disappeared at the same time as the latter, being observed 

 from September 5 to November 14 ^. 



The present species is very similar in habits to the European Dunlin {Pelidna 

 alpina), frequenting in the autumn mud-flats and saltings, often in flocks, distributing 

 itself over the ground in search of worms and small molluscs, which appear to be 

 the usual food of the smaller Waders. During the breeding-season, as recorded by 

 Mr. Nelson, it has a curious habit of inflating the throat into a kind of sac, rising to 

 some height in the air, and uttering hollow booming notes '^. 



The nest is usually placed in a tuft of grass ^. The eggs are four in number, 

 pyriform and somewhat glossy, of a pale greyish-green colour, coarsely marked all over 

 with spots and streaky blotches of umber-brown and underlying pale purple; the 

 markings are confluent and form a cap at the larger end. 



2. Heteropygia bairdi. 



Actodromas bairdi, Coues, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1861, p. 194' ; Scl. P. Z. S. 1862, p. 369 '; Baird, 



Brew., & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. i. p. 230 \ 

 Tringa bairdii, Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. Charadr. p. 444 * ; Allen, Bull. Amer. Mas. N. H. v. 



p. 33'; A. O. U. Check-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 88°; Elliot, N. Amer. Shore-Birds, 



p. 83'. 

 Heteropygia bairdi, Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 570 ' ; Oates, Cat. Eggs Brit. Mus. ii. 



p. 55, t. 2. fig. 4 \ 

 Tringa deppii, Licht. Preis-Verz. Mex. Vog. p. 3 " ; Cab. J. f. Orn. 1863, p. 59 '*. 



PtU. hiem. H. maculatm similis, sed minor, pedibus nigris, hj'pochondiiis concoloribus, minime striatis, et 

 plaga praepectoraK minus extensa distinguenda : rostro nigro ; pedibus schistaceo-nigris ; iride saturate 

 brunnea. Long, tota circa 6'5, alae 4"65, eaudae I'So, culm. 0'9, tarsi 0-8. (Descr. avis adults ex Mexico. 

 Mus. nostr.) 



Ptil. cestiv. Supra nigricans, plumis rufo marginatis ; plaga praepectorali magis rnfescente et magis distincte 

 nigro medialiter lineatis. Long, tota circa 7"0, alae 5-0, eaudae I'So, culm. 0"95, tarsi 0*9. (Descr. maris 

 adulti ex Zacatecas. Mus. nostr.) 



Rub. North America, chiefly in the interior, rare along the Atlantic coast, and not 

 yet recorded from the Pacific side of the United States ^. — Mexico {Deppe §(• 

 Schiede ^^ ^1, ParzudaJci ^), Sonora (Bobinette ^), Aguas CaUentes, Zacatecas 

 [Richardson^), Tres Marias Is. {Forrer^), city of Mexico, Puebla, Las Vegas, 

 Jalapa [Ferrari-Perez^). — South America generally in winter to Chile s. — Inci- 

 dental in S.W. Africa ^. 



H. bairdi is smaller than H. maculata, the wing being less than five inches in 

 length, and the dusky band on the fore-neck is less extensive; but the absence 

 of streaks or mottlings on the sides of the body and the black legs will, however, 

 distinguish it at all ages. 



Its breeding-range extends far to the north, but in winter the bird appears to have 

 a more western habitat than H. maculata. 



