ACT ITU Rl S BARTRAMIUS. 
Bartram’s Sandpiper. 
Tringa Bartramia, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vii p. 63, pi. 59. fig. 2. 
Totanus Bartramius, Bonap. Syn. Birds of Unit. States, p. 262.— Gould, Birds of Europe, vol. iv. pi. 313.- Swains 
and Rich. Faun. Bor. -Am., pt. ii. p. 391. 
Bartramia, Temm. Man. d’Orn., tom. ii. p. 650, and tom. iv. p. 415. 
Tringa longicauda, Bechst. Vog., Nacht. p. 453. 
Actitis Bartramia, Naum. Naturg. Deuts., pi. 196. 
Actiturus Bartramius, Bonap. Sagg. Distr. Met. An. Vert. — Gould, Handb. Birds of Aust. vol. ii. p. 242. 
Bartramia laticauda, Less. Traite d’Orn., p. 553. 
Euliga Bartramia, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 169. 
Totanus variegatus, Vieill. Gal. des Ois., tom. ii. p. 107, pi. cccxxxix. 
campestris et melanopygius, Vieill. Nouv. Diet. d’Hist. Nat., 2 e edit. tom. vi. pp. 400, 401. 
Tringoides Bartramius, G. R. Gray, Gen. of Birds, vol. iii. p. 574. 
That the Directors of the Museum of Sydney are imbued with feeling's of liberality and courtesy, I have 
had abundant proofs; for whenever Zoological science could be advanced through their instrumentality, 
they have ever readily responded to the requests proffered by myself and other naturalists of their father- 
land ; and it is to them that I am indebted for the opportunity of figuring the present species in this 
supplementary volume to the ‘ Birds of Australia,’ from the only example that has yet been taken in that 
country, and which they kindly transmitted to me some years since on loan for that purpose. The note 
accompanying it stated that it had been killed by an old sportsman, while snipe-shooting near the reservoir 
between the town of Sydney and Botany Bay in 1848, and that on dissection it proved to be a male and 
had the stomach filled with aquatic insects. The accompanying figure having been taken, the specimen 
referred to was returned to the Museum in 1861 ; and there it doubtless still exists, affording undeniable 
evidence of the wandering disposition of a bird whose natural home is the New World, where it ranges 
over the temperate portions of the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, and some of the West-Indian 
Islands ; it is also occasionally found in Europe, and even in England. That it should extend its range to the 
antipodes is most remarkable. 
It will he seen, by the list of synonyms, that this bird has been removed from the true Tringce and 
Totani, with which it was originally associated, and that various generic appellations have been applied to 
it : of these Bartramia appears to have the priority ; but this term not being generally adopted, I have 
preferred that of Actiturus , proposed by Bonaparte. 
The best accounts of this species are contained in the works of Wilson and Audubon, the latter of whom 
states that it is the most truly terrestrial of all its tribe with which he was acquainted ; for although not 
unfrequently met with in the vicinity of shallow pools, the muddy margins of the shores of the sea, and fresh- 
water lakes and streams, it never ventures to wade into them. The dry upland plains of Opellousas and 
Attacapas in Louisiana are amply tenanted with these birds in early spring and in autumn. They arrive there 
in the beginning of March from the vast prairies of Texas and Mexico, where they spend the winter, and 
return about the first of August. They are equally abundant on all the western prairies on both sides of 
the Missouri, where, however, they arrive about a month later than in Louisiana, whence they disperse over 
the United States, reaching the middle districts early in May, and the State of Maine by the middle of that 
month, at about which period they are also seen in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. That some proceed as 
far north as the plains adjoining the Saskatchewan River is certain ; for Dr. Richardson there met with 
examples in the month of May. In the neighbourhood of New Orleans, where the bird is known by the 
name of “ Papabote,” it usually arrives in great bands in spring, and is met with on the open plains and 
large grassy savannas, and usually remains about a fortnight. On their return southward in the beginning 
of August, when they tarry in Louisana until the 1st of October, they are fat and juicy. In spring, when 
they are poor and thin, they are usually much less shy than in autumn, at which period they are exceedingly 
wary and difficult of approach. Like all experienced travellers, Bartram’s Sandpiper appears to accommodate 
itself to circumstances as regards food ; for in Louisiana it feeds on Cantharides and other Coleopterous 
insects ; in Massachusetts on grasshoppers, on which it soon grows very fat ; in the Carolinas on crickets 
and other insects, as well as the seeds of the crabgrass {Digit aria sanguinaria ) ; and in the barrens of 
Kentucky it often picks the strawberries. Those which feed on Cantharides require to be very carefully 
cleaned, otherwise persons who eat them are liable to suffer severely ; but when their flesh is imbued with 
the flavour of ripe strawberries, it is truly delicious. 
The Australian specimen is much lighter in its general colouring than those killed in Europe and America, 
but is not in my opinion sufficiently different to warrant its being regarded as a distinct species. 
The accurate representation of the bird on the opposite Plate, of the natural size, renders a detailed 
description of its colouring unnecessary. 
