LONG-LEGGED SANDPIPER. 
273 
Tringa himantopus, Slender-shank Sandpiper, Swains, and Rich. F. Bov. Arner. 
vol. ii. p. 380.- 
Long-legged Sandpiper, Audubon's Stilt Sandpiper, Douglass' Stilt Sandpiper : 
Nutt. Man., vol. ii. pp. 138, 140, 141. 
Long-legged Sandpiper, Tringa himantopus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iv. p. 332 
• 
Male, 7£-8i, 15J-17- Female, 84-104, 164-18. 
Abundant in Texas in spring. Rare in the Middle Districts. Breeds 
in the Fur Countries. Migratory. 
Male in spring. 
Bill much longer than the head, very slender, sub-cylindrical, very slight- 
ly decurved, compressed at the base, the end rather depressed, considerably 
enlarged. Upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight, being very 
slightly decurved towards the end, the ridge narrow, convex, flattened 
towards the tip, the sides sloping, with a narrow groove extending nearly 
to the end, the edges rather blunt and soft, the tip decurved. Nostrils 
basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and very nar- 
row, the dorsal line straight, towards the end slightly deflected, the sides 
sloping outwards, with a long narrow groove, the tip a little broader. 
Head small, oblong, compressed. Eyes small. Neck rather long. Body 
slender. Feet long, very slender; tibia bare for an inch; tarsus long, slen- 
der, compressed, covered before and behind with numerous small scutella ; 
hind toe very small, the rest of moderate length, slender, the second very 
slightly longer than the fourth, the third very little longer; short basal webs, 
running out along the margins, that between the third and fourth toes larger. 
Claws rather long, very slender, slightly arched, tapering, compressed. 
Plumage very soft, blended ; the feathers somewhat distinct on the back. 
Wings very long, pointed ; primaries tapering, the first longest, the second 
slightly shorter, the rest rapidly graduated ; outer secondaries slightly in- 
curved, obliquely sinuate on the outer web towards the end, the inner web 
rounded; inner secondaries very narrow, tapering, reaching to three-fourths 
of an inch of the longest primary when the wing is closed. Tail of mode- 
rate length, nearly even, but with the two middle feathers exceeding the rest 
by two and a half twelfths of an inch, of twelve narrow, rounded feathers. 
Bill black. Iris brown. Feet dull yellowish-green, claws black. The 
upper parts are brownish-black, the feathers margined with reddish-white, 
the edges of the scapulars with serriform markings of the same ; rump and 
upper tail-coverts white, transversely barred with dusky; tail light grey, the 
feathers white at the base and along the middle. Primary quills and their 
coverts brownish-black, the inner tinged with grey, the shaft of the outer 
primary white, secondaries brownish-grey, margined with reddish-white, the 
inner dusky. A broad whitish line over the eye ; loral band dusky; aur : 
