LONG-LEGGED SANDPIPER. 273 



Twnga HiMANTOPus, Slender-shank Sandpiper, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. 



ii. p. 380. 

 Long-legged Sandpiper, Audubon's Stilt Sandpiper, Douglass'' Stilt Sandpiper, 



Nutt. Man., vol. ii. pp. 138, 140, 141. 

 Long-legged Sandpiper, Tringa himantopus, And. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 332. 



Male, 7i-8f, 151-17. Female, 8±-10l, 16^-18. 



Abundant in Texas in spring. Rare in the Middle Districts. Breeds in 

 the Fur Countries. Migratory. 



Male in spring. 



Bill much longer than the head, very slender, sub-cylindrical, very slight- 

 ly decurved, compressed at the base, the end rather depressed, considerably 

 enlarged. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight, being very 

 slightly decurved towards the end, the ridge narrow, convex, flattened to- 

 wards the tip, the sides sloping, with a narrow groove extending nearly to 

 the end, the edges rather blunt and soft, the tip decurved. Nostrils basal, 

 linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and very narrow, the 

 dorsal line straight, towards the end slightly deflected, the sides sloping out- 

 wards, with a long narrow groove, the tip a little broader. 



Head small, oblong, compressed. Eyes small. Neck rather long. Body 

 slender. Feet long, very slender; tibia bare for an inch; tarsus long, slen- 

 der, compressed, covered before and behind with numerous small scutella; 

 hind toe very small, the rest of moderate length, slender, the second very 

 slightly longer than the fourth, the third very little longer; short basal webs, 

 running out along the margins, that between the third and fourth toes larger. 

 Claws rather long, very slender, slightly arched, tapering, compressed. 



Plumage very soft, blended; the feathers somewhat distinct on the back. 

 Wings very long, pointed; primaries tapering, the first longest, the second 

 slightly shorter, the rest rapidly graduated; outer secondaries slightly in- 

 curved, obliquely sinuate on the outer web towards the end, the inner web 

 rounded; inner secondaries very narrow, tapering, reaching to three-fourths 

 of an inch of the longest primary when the wing is closed. Tail of mode- 

 rate length, nearly even, but with the two middle feathers exceeding the rest 

 by two and a half twelfths of an inch, of twelve narrow, rounded feathers. 



Bill black. Iris brown. Feet dull yellowish-green, claws black. The 

 upper parts are brownish-black, the feathers margined with reddish-white, 

 the edges of the scapulars with serriform markings of the same; rump and 

 upper tail-coverts white, transversely barred with dusky; tail light grey, the 

 feathers white at the base and along the middle. Primary quills and their 

 coverts brownish-black, the inner tinged with grey, the shaft of the outer 

 primary white, secondaries brownish-grey, margined with reddish-white, the 

 inner dusky. A broad whitish line over the eye; loral band dusky; auri- 



