640 
SYSTEM A TIC SYNOPSIS. — LIMICOL^. 
in N. U. S. and northward, if not also through most of its U. S. range; winters altogether 
or chiefly extralimital. Abundant during tlie migrations ; a shy, quiet inhabitant of wet woods 
and meadows and secluded pools, rather than of the marshes. Eggs still (1883 !) desiderata; 
but see Bull. Nuttall Club, iii, 1878, p. 197; New England Bird Life, ii, 1883, p. 240; and 
Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus. No. 26, p. 97. 
246. TRINGOI^DES. (Gr. rpvyyas, truggas, Lat. tryngas, or tringa, a sandpiper ; eldos, eidos, re- 
semblance.) Spotted Sandpipers. Bill straight, only about as long as head or tarsus, grooved 
for about three-fourths its length. Tibiae scarcely denuded for half the length of tarsus. Tar- 
sus about as long as middle toe and claw. Outer and middle toes webbed for the length of 
their first joints ; inner cleft. Tail fully half as long as the wing. Upper parts glossy, 
under spotted on white ground ; bill and feet pale. Of small size. 
638. T. macula'rius. (Lat. wacwZanws, spotted. Fig. 447.) Spotted Sandpiper. J* 9 , adult : 
Above, silken ashen-olive (quaker-color — as in our 
cuckoos) Math a coppery lustre, finely varied with 
blackish, in streaks on head and neck, elsewhere in 
wavy or otherwise irregular cross-bars. Line over 
eye, and entire under parts, pure Avhite, with nu- 
merous sharp circular black spots, larger and more 
crowded in the 9 than in the ^. Secondaries and 
Fig. 447. —Spotted Sandpiper, nat. size, their coverts broadly white-tipped : some white feath- 
(Adnat. del. E. C.) , i i r • -n i i- • i- ■ 
ers along bend ot wmg ; axillars and Immg of wmgs 
white, the latter with an oblique dusky bar. Primaries and most of the secondaries brownish- 
black, with brown shafts and large white basal spaces, concealed in the folded Mdng, conspicuous 
in flight. Upper tail-coverts and middle tail-feathers like back ; lateral ones successively acquir- 
ing white tips ; outer with several incomplete white bars. Feet pinkish- white, drying yellow- 
ish. Bill flesh-color, black-tipped ; sometimes much of culmen dusky ; sometimes much of 
under mandible orange. J: Length 7-25-7.60; extent 13.00-13.50; wing 3.80-4.00 ; bill, 
tarsus, and middle toe with claw, each 0.95-1.00. 9 : Length 7.60-7.90; extent 13.50-14.00; 
wing 3.90-4.10. Young: Above, less glossy, with little if any blackish variegation. Below, 
white, entirely free from spotting. Downy young : Below, white ; above, mottled with dark 
brown and buff ; a sharp black stripe from top of head down middle of back, and another 
through eye. N. Am. at large^ extremely abundant everywhere near water, and breeding 
throughout the country ; winters in Southern States and beyond ; familiarly known as the 
sandlark, peetweet, teeter-tail, tip-up, etc., these last names being given in allusion to its 
habit (shared by allied species) of jetting the tail as it moves; a custom as marked as the 
continual bobbing of the head of the solitary tattler and others. Nest a slight affair of dried 
grasses, on the ground, often in a field or orchard, but generally near water; eggs 4, pointed, 
creamy or clay-colored, blotched with blackish and neutral tint ; about 1.30 X 1.00. 
247. MACHE'TES. (Gr. fxaxrjTrjs, machetes, a fighter.) Fighting Sandpipers. Bill straight, 
about as longs. as head, shorter than tarsus, grooved nearly to tip. Gape reaching behind 
culmen. Outer and middle toe webbed at base ; inner cleft. Tarsus longer than middle toe 
and claw. Tail about half as long as wing, barred. ^ in the breeding season with the face 
bare and beset with papillae, and the neck with an extravagant frill or ruflfte of elongated 
feathers. 9 without these ornaments. 
639. M. pug'nax. {LiSit. pugnax, ipugnnGiousi. Fig. 448.) Euff, ^. Reeve, 9- Combatant. 
Gambetta. Adult (J, in wedding dress : Varied above with black, brown, buff and chestnut, 
the sides of rump white ; under parts white, breast and sides and crissum black, spotted with 
white ; tail brown, barred with chestnut and white ; quills dusky, with white shafts ; wing 
coverts ashy-brown. Bill blackish, flesh-colored at base; legs dingy yellow; warty excres- 
cences yellow ; feathers of the ruff endlessly varied in color. Length about 12.00 ; wing 7-00 ; 
