RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 339 



mandible, an inch and a quarter in length, and of a black 

 colour ; the head and globe of the eye are both remarkably 

 large, the latter deep bluish black ; forehead, white ; crown 

 and hind head, black, spotted with golden yellow ; back and 

 scapulars, dusky, sprinkled with the same golden or orange 

 coloured spots, mixed with others of white ; breast, belly, and 

 vent, black ; sides of the breast, whitish ; wing-quills, black ; 

 middle of the shafts, white ; greater coverts, black, tipt with 

 white ; lining of the wing, black ; tail, regularly barred with 

 blackish and pure white ; tail-coverts, pure white ; legs and 

 feet, a dusky lead colour ; the exterior toe joined to the middle 

 by a broad membrane ; hind toe, very small. 



From the length of time which these birds take to acquire 

 their full colours, they are found in very various stages of 

 plumage. The breast and belly are at first white, gradually 

 appear mottled with black, and finally become totally black. 

 The spots of orange or golden on the crown, hind head, and 

 back are at first white, and sometimes even the breast itself 

 is marked with these spots, mingled among the black. In 

 every stage, the seemingly disproportionate size of the head 

 and thickness of the bill will distinguish this species. 



RED-BREASTED SANDPIPER. {Tringa rufa.) 



PLATE LVIL— Fig. 5. 



Peale's Museum, No. 4050. 

 TRINGA CANUTUS.—LWNMUS. 



Tringa Islandica, Linn, and Lath. — Red Sandpiper, Mont. Orn. Diet. Supp. — 

 Aberdeen Sandpiper, Penn. Brit. Zool. ii. No. 203. 



Of this prettily-marked species I can find no description. 

 The Tringa Icelandica, or Aberdeen sandpiper of Pennant 

 and others, is the only species that has any resemblance to it ; 

 the descriptions of that bird, however, will not apply to the 

 present. 



