History of British animals - University of Guam Marine Laboratory

108 BIRDS. PRESSIROSTRES. Tringa.Pigmy Curlew, and Pigmy Sandpiper, Mont. Orn. Diet, and Suppt—T.sub., Temm. Orn. ii. (i07. — In England rare.Length 8i, breadth 15i inches ; weight 2 ounces. Bill 14 inches long, obviouslybent, black. Legs black, bare of feathers for half an inch above theknee. Irides brown, the face, over the eyes and the throat white, with browndots. Crown black, the edges of the feathers red ; nape red, with blackstreaks. Back black, the edges of the feathers with angular red spots. Beneathreddish-brown, more or less marked with dark spots and white. Quillswith pale margins on the .nner web. Tail cuneiform, dusky grey, borderedwith white ; upper and under-covers white, with black and red bars. In winter,the plumage above is cinereous-brown, with dark streaks ; below white.The tail is cinereous, bordered with white. The outer feathers white on theinside. In the female, the bill is longei*.— Nest near water. Eggs 5, yellow,with broad spots.The young nearly resemble the whiter dress of the oldbirds. This species, which is not uncommon on the Continent, and which breedsin Holland, might be considered as a straggler here, were it not probable thatit is confounded with the following species.153. T. alpina.Dunlin.— Bill a little longer than the head.Two middle tail-feathers produced, pointed. Tarsus 12 linesin length.Alauda marina (the Stint and Dunlin), Will. Orn. 226.—Sibb. Scot. 19—T. alp. and Cinclus, Linn. Syst.i. 249. and 251— Dunlin, Purre, andBrown Sandpiper, Penn. Brit. Zool. ii.471,-2—T. variabilis, Temm.Orn. ii. G12 E, Least Snipe, Ox-Bird, Ox-Eye, Bull's Eye, Sea-Lark,Wagtail Sea-Snipe.— ; S, Pickerel, Common.Length 8, breadth 14 inches? weight 10 drams. Bill 1± inches in length;black, slightly deflected. Palate with reflected teeth. Feet dusky. Iridesdark-brown. Plumage above black ; the edges of the feathers rufous and cinereous: beneath white, slightly streaked on the neck with dusky ; the breastand upper belly black, the feathers with white margins. Quills dusky, thefirst the longest, and reaching to the end of the tail ; the basal half of the secondaries,and their tips, white ; the tips of the first covers white ; the tertialsproduced. Tail of 1 2 feathers, dusky, margined with white ; the two middle onesdarkest, produced, and pointed the lateral tail-covers are ;white, the centralones black and long. In this its summer or breeding dress, it is the Dunlin ofBritish writers. In winter, the plumage, above, is more or less cinereous, withdusky streaks : below, the black on the breast has faded into dusky streaks,in which dress it is the Purre * —Nest in heaths, of dried rushes. Eggs 4,smoky white, irregularly marked with light and dark brown blotches. Young,with the lores, dusky ; the neck and breast cinereous, with dusky streaks.—This species is solitary during the breeding-season, but collects in flocks, andis common on the shore during the remainder of the year.154. T.piisilla.— Tail cuneiform, the external feathers white.* It is of importance to attend to the character of these changes of plumageat the different seasons of the year. A feather which, in summer, is ofa dark colour, with a light margin, may, in winter, become wholly white. Thistakes place by the lightcolour of the margin extending with the fading of thedark colour of the middle, a trace ol which is generally left at the shaft, nearthe base. In summer this process is again reversed- It was formerly consideredby British ornithologists, and is still regarded in the same light, by thecelebrated Temminck, that these changes in the colour of the plumage areeffected by moulting. Many years ago, I demonstrated the fallacy of thisopinion; and my conclusions have been subsequently confirmed by severalacute and practical ornithologists. —See my Philosophy of Zoology, v. ii. chap, 2.