66 
TRINGINiE. TRINGA. 
GENUS XCY. TRINGA. SANDPIPER. 
The species of this genus are of small size, the largest 
not exceeding the Golden Plover. They have the body 
ovate and compact ; the neck of moderate length ; the head 
rather small, compressed, anteriorly convex. Bill not much 
longer than the head, nearly straight, slender, soft, and 
somewhat flexible ; upper mandible with the dorsal line 
straight, the ridge narrow, but flattened toward the end, 
the tip slightly enlarged, obtuse, and a little exceeding that 
of the low^er, the nasal groove extending nearly to the end, 
and filled by a concave bare membrane ; lower mandible 
with the angle very long and narrow, the sides grooved, the 
tip a little enlarged and obtuse. Mouth extremely narrow ; 
tongue very long, slender, trigonal, channelled above, point- 
ed ; upper mandible internally concave, with a groove on 
each side, and a medial double row of reversed pointed pa- 
pillae ; oesophagus narrow, without dilatation ; proventricu- 
lus oblong ; gizzard large, with very strong and firm lateral 
muscles, radiated tendons, and dense rugous thin epithe- 
lium ; intestine long, and of moderate width ; coeca mode- 
rate, cylindrical. Nostrils small, linear, pervious, basal, 
close to the margin. Eyes rather small, eyelids densely 
feathered. Aperture of ear rather large, roundish. Legs 
of moderate length, very slender ; tibia long, bare for a 
fourth ; tarsus with numerous narrow scutella ; toes four, 
small, scutellate ; first diminutive and elevated ; second a 
little shorter than the third, which is connected with the j 
fourth by a basal w^eb ; claws small, curved, compressed, , 
obtuse. Plumage moderately full, soft, rather blended ; 
wings very long, pointed, of twenty-five quills ; primaries 
tapering, first longest ; inner secondaries very elongated and 
tapering ; tail short, generally doubly emarginate, of twelve 
narrowed feathers. 
The Sandpipers inhabit the sandy and muddy coasts of 
the sea, estuaries, and rivers, in autumn and winter, often 
collecting into large flocks. In summer, they are dispersed 
over the moors and marshy districts of the northern coun- 
tries, where they breed, forming a shallow nest on the ground, 
