14 
FRANK FORESTER’S FIELD SPORTS. 
No. 3. Pectoral Sandpiper— Tringa Pectoralis ; Bonap .— 
Vulgo, Meadow Snipe. 
Tringa pectoralis, Bonap. Syn. Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pectoralis, Nutt 
Mann. Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pectoralis, And. Om. Biog. 
“ Specific Character. —Bill straight, base orange-green; length 
of tarsi one inch and one-sixteenth; upper parts brownish-black 
edged with reddish-brown; throat white; fore part of neck and 
upper part of the breast light brownish-gray, streaked with 
dusky ; rest of lower parts including the lower tail coverts white. 
Adult with the bill straight; top of the head dark-brown, inter¬ 
mixed with black; sides of the head, neck and a large portion of 
the breast, grayish-brown, streaked with dusky; chin white ; a 
streak of dark-brown before the eye, continuing to the nostril— 
directly above a faint line of white : back dark-brown ; feathers 
margined with white ; primary quills dark-brown—shaft of the 
first white ; outer secondaries slightly edged with white ; tail 
feathers brown, margined with brownish-white—two middle 
feathers darker, longest and more pointed; lower part of the 
breast, abdomen, and sides of the body, and under tail coverts 
white; feet dull-yellow; tibia bare, about half the length. Fe¬ 
male, the general plumage lighter. Length nine inches and a 
half; wing five and a quarter. 
“ During some seasons, this species is quite plentiful on the 
shores of Long Island. It is generally overlooked by the gun¬ 
ners, and I find that most of our sportsmen are not aware of 
the claims it has to their attention. 
“ In the spring I have never met with it in large numbers, and 
from this circumstance I am inclined to the opinion that it pass¬ 
es on to its breeding grounds with but little delay. In the latter 
part of August it returns, and increased numbers appear on the 
necks of land in the immediate vicinity of tide water, and are 
also found in the islands in the bay. Although large numbers 
are sometimes seen occupying the same feeding grounds, still 
