308 BIRDS OF DAMABA LAND. 



mens in which the bill was of a dark flesh-grey, and 

 others in which it was deep greenish black. 



[Mr. J. E. Harting possesses a specimen of the Curlew Sand- 

 piper obtained by Mr. Andersson in Walwich Bay on April 15th, 

 and two others from the same locality, obtained on October 15th 

 and 24th.— Ed.] 



363. Tringa Bairdii (Coues). Baird's Sandpiper. 



Actodromas Bairdii, Coues, in Proc, Acad. Nat. Soi. Pliilad. 1861, 



p. 194. 

 Tringa Bairdi, Hai'ting, in Ibis, 1870, p. 151. 



[Mr. J. E. Harting possesses a male specimen of this American 

 Sandpiper, obtained by Mr. Andersson in Walwich Bay on 

 October 24th, 1863, being the only instance with which I am 

 acquainted of the occurrence of this species in the Old World. 

 Mr. Andersson probably did not particularly observe this spe- 

 cimen, as I do not find any reference to it in his notes. 

 Mr. Harting has favoured me with the following remarks on this 

 interesting species, which, by his kind permission, I here insert: — 



" I do not think that Tringa Bairdii has ever been figured. 



" This species is not recognized by Professor Baird in his ' Birds 

 of North America,^ although doubtless he has met with it since 

 the publication of that work, unless we are to suppose that he 

 has included it under the name of Tringa Bonapartei, ScUegel 

 {i. e. T. Schinzii, Bonap. nee Brehm). This can scarcely be the 

 case, since he describes correctly the latter species as having the 

 upper tail-coverts white, which in T. Bairdii are black or nearly 

 so, and gives other characters which are applicable to the former 

 but not to the latter bird. Prof. Schlegel, strange to say, gives 

 T. Bairdii of Coues as a synonym of T. maculata, Vieillot {i. e. 

 T. pectoralis, Say and Bonap.), of which species he considers it 

 a small variety (Mus. P.-B. Scolopaces, p. 39) *. Bonaparte, 



[* There is a remarkable similarity in the general appearance of T. Bairdii 

 and T. maculata ; but the former may be readily disting-uished by its much 

 shorter toes. The middle toe, without the claw, measures 0'45 of an inch in 

 T. Bairdii, and 0-85 in T. maculata. — Ed.] 



