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made of the webbed feet. The remarks made in this article, under the head cl* 
Ereunetes pusillus , will, it is hoped, show that the name pusilla was originally 
used in a very different connection, and hence cannot be employed for the pre- 
sent species. Bonaparte, as early as 1825, seems to have been aware that the 
T. pusilla of Linnaeus was not the bird given under that name by Wilson; for 
in his Observations on the Nomenclature of Wilson’s Ornithology, on the sub- 
ject of T. semipalmata, Wils., he gives as a reason for not adopting pusilla for 
that latter species, that “several -species have been confounded together under 
the name of T. pusilla; and although the present ( T . semipalmata , Wils.) is the real 
species , it would be adding to the existing confusion to change the most appro- 
priate name of semipalmata , given by the author who first separated the species, 
in order to apply a name generally given to another, to which in that case we 
ought to give a new name.” In 1834, Nuttall applied the name Wilsoni to a 
species whose manners and habits he described so accurately that there can be 
no doubt of its referring to the bird now under consideration, though he, too, 
fell into the error of quoting T. cinclus dominicensis minor , Briss. This name 
Wilsoni being supposed to be the only one hitherto applied to the species, 
(except of course pusilla , untenable for the reason already given,) is the one in 
general use among more modern ornithologists. In view of the existing con- 
fusion, it is with great reluctance that I adopt still another name for this 
species; but the Tringa minutilla of Yieiliot p"ints so unmistakeably to the 
present bird, that a strict adherence to the laws of ornithological nomenclature 
renders this necessary. This author (page 466 of the Nouv. Diet.) says : “ Le 
nom que j’ai conserve a cet oiseau est celui sous lequel il est connu dans nos 
colonies d’Amerique, et qui lui a ete impose d’apres sa petite taille . . . . il a des 
rapports avec le tringa minuta de Leisler . . . . je l’ai souvent vu a Halifax, et 
dans la Nouvelle-Ecosse .... comme les tringas becos,” ( T . semipalmata , 
Wils.?) “se comport de meme, il en est resulte qu’on les a confondus en- 
semble.” There is no North American Sandpiper but the present remarkable 
for its diminutive size, and having relationships with the T. minuta , Leisl., that 
is found in Nova Scotia, except the T. semipalmata , Wils., with which, as the 
author remarks,* it is sometimes confounded, from a general similarity in 
habits and appearance. The description given applies well ; and in some par- 
ticulars, such as the length (quatre pouces dix lignes) and the proportions of 
the bill, (“noir, tres-grele, et long de neuf legnes; les tarses delamemelon- 
geur, 5 ’) can refer to no other North American Sandpiper. 
From these considerations therefore I adopt the name minutilla, at least until 
some weightier reasons be adduced to disprove the position assumed. 
Actodromas (Actodromas) Bairdii Coues. — Baird’s Sandpiper. 
Tringa (Actodromas) Eonapartei, Cassin, Gen. Rep. 722. In part. 
Sp. Char. — Form and proportions typical of the genus. Bill small, slender, 
rather shorter than the head, equal to the tarsus, the tip scarcely expanded, its 
point very acute. Grooves in both mandibles very long and deep, that of the 
lower very narrow. Feathers extending on the side of lower mandible much 
farther than those on the upper, about half as far as those between the rami. 
Wings long; first and second primaries about equal, but varying, third 
much shorter ; tertials long, slender, flowing. Tail rather long, but slightly 
doubly emarginate, the central feathers rounded, projecting but little. Toes 
long, slender, slightly margined, the middle with its claw about equal to tarsus. 
Adult in breeding plumage. Entire upper parts a very dark brownish black, 
deeper on the rump and lighter on the neck behind, each feather bordered and 
tipped with light reddish yellow ; on the scapulars the tips broader and nearly 
pure white, and the margins brighter, making several deep indentations towards 
If, as is probably the case, “ le beco ” be the T. semipalmata, Wils. 
