210 
PRrECOCIAL GRALLATORES — LIMICOL2E. 
Mr. MacFarlane writes : “ The nest from which these eggs were taken was situated 
between two small brackish lakes near the sea-shore. One of our party saw the 
female get off ; and when the nest was approached by him she uttered a shrill note 
of alarm. After searching about for a few minutes, he failed to find the eggs ; and 
he then determined to hide himself, and from his concealment ascertain where the 
female would alight on her return. In a short time she was seen to return, accom- 
panied by three companions, all of whom looked and moved about ; but not discover- 
ing anything, seemed to hold a brief consultation, after which they separated, the 
female to her nest. Another search failed to discover the eggs ; and the female again 
returned with the same birds, who appeared to be in a state of great excitement, 
judging from the chattering they kept up. After awhile they again separated; when 
the nest was found, and the parent secured. The report of the gun brought the 
others once more to the spot ; but they beat a hasty retreat. The nest was a mere 
depression in the midst of some hay, and lined with the same and a few withered 
leaves.” 
The eggs of this species exhibit great variations in their appearance, in conse- 
quence of the differences in the size, the manner of distribution, and the number of 
the spots. The ground is a light drab, and the markings are of a pure bright sepia. 
In one set (S. I. No. 11272) of four eggs, the nest — a mere depression in the ground, 
on the border of a small lake in the midst of marshy ground — was lined with with- 
ered grasses. In this set the markings are large, pronounced, and distinct, sparsely 
distributed around the smaller end, and more numerous and occasionally confluent 
about the obtuse end. They are pyriform in shape, and the smaller end is very 
sharply defined. They average 1.25 inches in length, by .86 in breadth. Another set 
(No. 11271) of four eggs in a nest found placed between two small lakes, and lined 
with withered grasses and leaves, was obtained in the Barren Grounds, near Fort 
Anderson. In these eggs the spots are much finer, more numerous about the smaller 
end, and there very fine, a little larger and more confluent about the larger extremity, 
and nearly concealing the grayish white or light drab-colored ground. These meas- 
ure 1.15 inches by .85. Four eggs (No. 11273) found on an island in Franklin Bay, 
July 4, have markings still more minute and numerous, universally diffused, and 
more or less confluent over the entire egg, concealing the ground, and having appar- 
ently very little resemblance to No. 11272. Four eggs (No. 17041) were found by 
Mr. L. M. Turner, May 28, 1874, at St. Michael’s. Their ground-color is a light 
grayish buff, thickly spotted with reddish sepia and darker sepia, chiefly on the 
larger end. Their measurements are as follows: 1.20 by .80 inches; 1.25 by .85; 
1.25 by .90 ; 1.25 by .85. 
Genus TRINGA, Linnaeus. 
Tringa, Linn. S. N. ed. 10, 1758, 148 ; ed. 12, 1766, 247 (type T. canutus, Linn.). 
Char. Body robust ; bill and legs short, the former straight, widened terminally, and scarcely 
longer than the head ; tarsus about equal to the bill, or a little shorter ; middle toe about two 
thirds the tarsus. Wings long and pointed, reaching beyond the end of the tail. 
The above characters separate at once this genus from Arquatella, the one most nearly related, 
but which has the bill much more compressed, slightly but decidedly decurved toward the end, 
and much longer than the tarsus ; the latter scarcely, if any, longer than the middle toe ; the 
wings shorter, etc. The single species T. canutus is the largest of American Sandpipers, and among 
the largest known species of this group ; only one, the Arquatella crassirostris (Temm. & Schleg.) 
of Eastern Asia exceeding it in size. 
