44 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



Tringa maritima Brunn. 



PimPLE SABTDPIPEE. 



Popular synonyms. Winter Snipe (Maine); K6ok Snjpe. 



Tringa maritima Beijnn. Orn. Bor. 1764, 54.— Sw. &B10H. P. B.-A. ii, 1831, 382.— Ntttt. Man. 

 U, 18a4, 115.-AUD. Orn. Biog, iil, 1835, 558, pi. 284; Synop. 1839, 233; B. Am. v, 1842, 261, 

 pi. 330.— Cass, in Baird's B. N. Am. 1858, 717.— Baibd, Cat. N. Am. B. 1859, No. 528.— 

 CouES, Key, 1872, 255; Cheek List, 1877, No. 423; B. N. W. 1874, 488.- A. O. U. Cheek 

 List, 1886, No. 235.-Eroaw. Man. N. Am. B. 1887, 153. 

 Arauatella maritima Eidow. Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, v, July, 1880, 162; Norn. N. Am. B. 

 1881, No. 530.— CouBB, Cheek List. 21 ed. .1882, No, 620.-B. B. & B. Water B. N. Am. 

 i, 1884, 217. 



H AB . Northeastern portions of North America, breeding in the high north, and migrat- 

 ing southward in winter to the Middle States, the Great Lakes, and shores of the larger 

 streams in the Mississippi Yalley. Bermudas? Also, the northern portion of the Ealffi- 

 arotio Eegion. 



Sp. Chab. Adult, breeding plumage: Above, dusky slate, the scapulars and inter- 

 scapulars nearly black, and faintly glossed, the edge of each feather notched or indented 

 with oohraceous or dull buff, the terminal portion bordered with dull white or pale buff; 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, and middle tail-feathers glossy dusky-blaok, tie feathers of the 

 rump sometimes faintly bordered with grayish; remaining reotrioes uniform grayish, with 

 white shafts, the shade of gray becoming gradually lighter to the exterior feather. Lesser 

 and middle wing-coverts bordered terminally with grayish white or pale ash; greater cov- 

 erts tipped with pure white, forming a distinct bar across the wing; secondaries narrowly 

 tipped with white and faintly edged with light ashy, the three or four feathers adjoining the 

 tertials mostly white ; primaries with white shafts, the inner quills edged, especially toward 

 the base, with white. Pileum dusky, streaked with pale grayish buft (these streaks some- 

 times nearly obsolete) ; a conspicuous superciliary stripe of grayish white, streaked with 

 dusky; a broad grayish dusky streaked stripe across the lores, from the bill to and beneath 

 the eye, and continued rather indistlnotly across the auriculars ; cheeks, lower part of throat, 

 and f oreneck grayish white, streaked with grayish dusky ; chin, and sometimes upper part 

 of throat, uustroaked white ; jugulum similarly but more broadly streaked; breast grayish 

 white or pale ashy. Irregularly spotted with dusky, these spots occupying chiefly the cen- 

 tral portion of each feather ; remaining lower part white, the sides irregularly streaked and 

 spotted with grayish; crissum narrowly streaked with dusky; aodllarsand lining of the 

 wing pure white, the latter bordered externally with grayish. "Bill brown, yellow at base; 

 tarsi and toes dusky yellow; iris brown." (Kumi/Ien, MS.) [Bill and legs dusky in dried 

 skins.*] Winter dress: Above, uniform smoky plumbeous, the scapulars, interscapulars, 

 rump feathers, and upper tail-coverts, darker oentraUy, whereglossed with purple; wings 

 and tail as in the summer plumage. Head and neck uniform smoky plumbeous, darker 

 immediately before the eye, and, to a less extent, on the crown; the chin and upper part of 

 throat, lower eyelid, and supraloral space, white; jugulum and breast light smoky plum- 

 beous, sauamated with white; remaining lowerparts white, the sides broadly streaked with 

 light brownish gray ; crissum with narrow mesial streaks of dusky. Young.flrst plumage: 

 Above, aulte similar to the breeding adult, but the dorsal feathers lacking the lateral ochra- 

 oeous indentations, and the light borders to the feathers rather more regul^, and more 

 creamy in tint, the light borders to the wing-coverts also broader, and pale grayish buff 

 instead of white or pale ashy ; nape and cheeks uniform smoky plumbeous ; lower parts 

 much as In the summer adult. Downy young: Above, brown, Ughter and more gray- 

 ish on the nape ; the brown irregularly marbled with black; the wings, back, and rump 

 thickly bespangled with whitish downy flecks on the tips of the down-tufts. Head pale 

 fulvous, variously marked with black, the crown deep brown, variegated with black. 

 Beneath, entirely grayish white. 



Totallength, about 9 inches; wing, 4.85-5.40(5.06); oulmen, 1.10-1.45 (1.20); tarsus, .90-1.00 

 (.99); middle toe, .83-.9B (.90). [Extreme and average dimensions of IS adults.] 



•Audubon says: "Bill deep orange, toward the end dusky; edges of eyelids gray; iris 

 orange; feet light orange, claws dusky." 



