SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 493 
below; line before the eye, auriculars, back part of the neck, scapu- 
lars, and whole wings, deep black, richly glossed with green; legs.and 
naked thighs, a fine: pale carmine; the latter measures three, the 
former four inches and a half in length, exceedingly thin, and so flex- 
ible that they may be bent considerably without danger of breaking. 
This thinness of the leg enables the bird to wade with expedition, and 
without fatigue. Feet, three-toed, the outer toe connected to the 
middle one by a broad membrane; wings, long, extending two inches 
beyond the tail, and sharp pointed ; irides, a bright, rich scarlet ; pupil, 
black. In some, the white from the breast extends quite round the 
neck, separating the black of the hind neck from that of the body ; 
claws, blackish horn. : 
The female is about half an inch shorter, and differs in having the 
plumage of the upper back and scapulars, and, also the tertials, of a 
deep brown color. The stomach, or gizzard, was extremely muscular, 
and contained fragments of small snail shells, winged bugs, and a 
slimy matter, supposed to be the remains of some aquatic worms. In 
one of these females I counted upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs, 
some of them as large as buck-shot. The singular form of the legs 
and feet, with the exception of the hind toe and one membrane of the 
foot, is exactly like those of the Avoset. The upper curvature of the 
bill, though not quite so great, is also the same as in the other, being 
rounded above, and tapering to a delicate point in the same manner. 
In short, a slight comparison of the two is sufficient to satisfy the 
most scrupulous observer that Nature has classed these two birds 
together; and so believing, we shall not separate them. 
SOLITARY SANDPIPER.—TRINGA SOLITARIA. — Fic. 230. 
Peale’s Museum, No. T7163. 
TOTANUS CHLOROPIGIUS. — Vinruot.* 
» Totanus glareolus, Ord’s reprint, p. 57. —Totanus chloropigius,, Viedl,— Bonap. 
Cat. p. 26. — Synop. p. 325. 
Tus new species inhabits the watery solitudes of our highest 
mountains during the summer, from Kentucky to New York; but is 
no where numerous, seldom more than one or two being seen 
together. It takes short, low flights; runs nimbly about among the 
* Tn the sccond edition of the seventh part, under the inspection of Mr. Ord, this 
bird is described as new, by the name of 7’. glareolus. Ord thought it identical 
with the 7". elareolus of Europe, and named it as such ; his synonymes are, there- 
fore, all wrong. ‘The Prince of Musignano thus points out the differences: “ 7’. 
chloropizius differs from J". elareola, not only as regards the characters of the tail- 
feathers, but also in being more minutely speckled, the white spots being smaller 5 
by its longer tarsus; by the lineation of all the tail-feathers, but especially the 
lateral ones; the bands being broader, purer, aid much more regular, whilst the lat- 
ter tail-feathers of the European species are almost pure white on the inner webs ; 
42 
