312 SOLITARY SANDPIPER, OR TATLER. 



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

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

 second equal, the rest rapidly graduated; secondaries short, broad, incurved, 

 obliquely rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail rather short, 

 slightly rounded, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Bill greenish-black. Iris brown; edges of eyelids dark grey. Feet green- 

 ish-grey, claws brownish-black. Upper part of the head, lores, cheeks, hind 

 neck and sides of the neck deep brownish-grey, the edges of the feathers 

 brownish-white; a dull white line from the bill to the eye; upper part of 

 throat greyish-white; fore-neck of the same colour, streaked with brownish- 

 grey, as are the sides; the rest of the lower parts greyish-white. The gene- 

 ral colour of the back and scapulars is deep greenish-brown, the feathers 

 edged with a few small spots of white and dusky, those on the inner secon- 

 daries more numerous. Wing-coverts similar, excepting those along the 

 edge of the wing, which, with the alula and primary coverts, are deep brown- 

 ish-black; primary quills brownish-black, secondaries greyish-brown; lower 

 wing-coverts mottled with brownish-black and white, the axillar feathers 

 barred with greyish-white and dusky, as are the upper tail-coverts and the 

 tail-feathers, of which the two middle are merely spotted with white on the 

 edges. 



Length to end of tail 8 1 - inches, to end of wings 9, to end of claws 10; 

 extent of wings 16£; wing from flexure 5i; tail 2; bill along the back 1^, 

 along the edge of lower mandible lf|; tarsus \-^', middle toe -f-^, its claw ff. 

 Weight If oz. 

 Adult Female. 



There is no decided difference between the sexes in the colouring, but the 

 female is somewhat larger. From the only instance in which I found this 

 species in the act of depositing its eggs, I conclude that it generally forms its 

 nest on the higher grounds or along the declivities of hills. 



Mouth very narrow, 2\ twelfths in width. Tongue 11 twelfths long, 

 channelled above, extremely slender toward the point. CEsophagus 3 inches 

 2 twelfths long, 2 twelfths wide; proventriculus 3 twelfths in breadth. 

 Stomach roundish, oblique, 9 twelfths by S twelfths; its lateral muscles large; 

 epithelium dense and longitudinally rugous. Intestine 13 1 - inches long; 

 duodenum 2 twelfths in width, the rest 1^ twelfths; cceca 1 inch 2 twelfths 

 long, 1 twelfth wide, and 1^ inches distant from the extremity; rectum 

 slightly dilated toward the end. Trachea 2i inches long, \\ twelfths in 

 width, much flattened, the rings narrow, unossified, 128. Bronchial half 

 rings about 15. Muscles as in the other species of this family. Male. 



