BRITISH BIRDS. 
ii6 
RED SANDPIPER. 
ABERDEEN SANDPIPER. 
{Tringa Icelandica, Lin.) 
I.ATHAM defcribes this bird in the following 
manner : — “ Length from eight to ten inches : bill 
brown, one inch and a half long, and a little bent 
downwards : head, hinder part of the neck, and 
beginning of the back, dufky, marked with red : 
fore part of the neck and breaft cinereous, mix- 
ed with ruft colour, and obfcurely fpotted with 
black : leffer wing coverts cinereous : quills dufky : 
fecondaries tipped with white : the two middle tail 
feathers dufky ; the others cinereous : legs long and 
black.’’ The farne author mentions another varie-? 
ty, which is called by Pennant the Aberdeen Sand- 
piper : it has the bread: reddifli brown, mixed with 
dulky : belly and vent white : in other refpeds it 
is like the Red Sandpiper, of which it is fuppofed 
by Latham to be the female, or a young bird. He 
adds, the Red Sandpiper has appeared in great 
flocks on the coafts of Eflex : the Aberdeen, in 
Scotland. They have alfo been met with on the 
coaifs of New York, Labrador, and Nootka Sound ; 
and are alfo found in Iceland. In fummer they fre- 
quent the neighbourhood of the Cafpian fea ; and 
alfo the river Don. It is perpetually running up 
and down on the fandy banks, picking up infedls 
and fmall worms, on which it feeds.” 
