386 BAY-BIRDS. 



quarters of an inch, slender ; tarsi three-quarters of 

 an inch ; legs yellowish-green. Adult with the bill 

 brownisli- black ; upper part of the breast grey- 

 brown, mixed with white ; back and upper parts 

 black; the whole plumage above broadly edged 

 with bright bay and yellow ochre ; primaries black 

 — ^greater coverts the same, tipped with white ; tail 

 rounded, the four exterior feathers on each side dull 

 white — the rest dark- brown ; tertials as long as 

 the primaries ; head above dark-brown, with paler 

 edges ; over the eye a streak of whitish ; belly and 

 vent white. Length five inches and a half, wing 

 three and a half. With many of our birds we ob- 

 serve that individuals of the same species vary iu 

 length, extent, and sometimes differ slightly in their 

 bills, even with those which have arrived at 

 maturity. — On consulting ornithological works, we 

 notice that there are no two writers whose 

 measurement is in all cases alike. With specimens 

 of the Wilson's sandpiper, we find in their pro- 

 portiono greater discrepancy than iu many other 

 species — and out of these differences we are inclined 

 to the opinion that two spurious species have been 

 created." — Giraud. 



Tatlee. 



G-enua Tetanus. 



Generic Distinctions. — Bill longer than the head, 



straight, hard and slender ; neck slender, and both it 



and body rather long ; wings long and pointed ; tail 



short and rounded; legs long; hind-toe very small, 



