308 SPOTTED SANDPIPER, OR TATLER. 



St. Lawrence, and Labrador. Inland all over the country. Very common. 

 Resident in the Southern States. Columbia river. 



Adult Male. 



Bill a little longer than the head, very slender, sub-cylindrical, straight, 

 flexible, compressed, the point rather obtuse. Upper mandible with the 

 dorsal line straight, the ridge convex, broader at the base, slightly depressed 

 towards the end, the sides sloping, towards the end convex, the edges sharp, 

 the tip slightly deflected. Nasal groove extending over three-fourths of the 

 length of the bill; nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the 

 angle very long and extremely narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides 

 grooved at the base, convex towards the end. 



Head small, oblong. Eyes rather large. Neck of moderate length. 

 Body rather slender. Feet rather long and slender; tibia bare nearly half 

 its length, scutellate before and behind; tarsus also scutellate before and 

 behind; hind toe very small and elevated; fore toes rather long, very slender, 

 connected by basal webs, of which the outer is much larger; second toe con- 

 siderably shorter than fourth; all flat beneath, and marginate. Claws small, 

 slightly arched, much compressed, rather sharp, that of the middle toe much 

 larger, with the inner edge considerably dilated. 



Plumage very soft, blended, on the fore part of the head very short. 

 Wings long, narrow, pointed; primaries rather narrow and tapering, first 

 longest, the rest rapidly gi'aduated; secondaries short, broad, incurved, ob- 

 liquely rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail of moderate length, 

 much rounded, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bill greenish-olive above, yellow beneath, the point of both mandibles 

 black. Eye hazel. Feet pale yellowish flesh-colour, claws black. All the 

 upper parts shining deep brownish-olive, the head longitudinally streaked, 

 the back transversely barred with black. A line from the bill to the eye 

 and beyond it white, another beneath it dusky. All the lower parts white, 

 marked with numerous brownish-black spots, smaller on the throat, largest 

 and roundish on the breast and sides. Axillary feathers pure white, lower 

 wing-coverts white, mottled with dusky. Quills brownish-black, glossed 

 with green, the elongated inner secondaries like the back; the primaries 

 slightly tipped with white, the secondaries, excepting the inner, more dis- 

 tinctly so, the white forming on them a conspicuous band. Four middle 

 tail-feathers like the back, with a band of black at the end, the tip white; the 

 next pair on each side similar, with the white tip larger; the next barred 

 with dusky on the outer web; the lateral feather with the outer web white, 

 similarly barred. 



Length to end of tail 8 inches, to end of wings 1\, to end of claws 8^; 



