OCR Text |
Show 1874.] MR. J. E. HARTING ON A N E W TRINGA. 243 it loses all trace of black upon the breast, and has the whole of the underparts pure white. The same has been ascertained to be the case with Tringa crassirostris. •In order to give a better idea of the size of this new Sandpiper, I subjoin the following measurements of bill, wing, tarsus, and middle toe, as compared with the same parts in the two better-known species to which it is allied :- Entire length. Bill. Wing. Tars. Midd. toe. in. in. in. in. in. T. crassirostris 11 17 7 1'4 1*2 T. gracilis 10 1*5 5*5 1 VI T. alpina 8 1*4 4'5 1 0-9 In T. crassirostris (Plate XL. fig. 7) the bill is unusually deep at the base, and laterally much compressed ; the wings long, with broad and powerful flight-feathers ; the tail (fig. 9) almost square; the tibia for some portion of its length bare ; the tarsus (fig. 8) longer than the middle toe ; the toes comparatively short, stout, and well margined, as in Tringa canutus*, while the nails are long and curved. In T. gracilis, as in T. alpina (see Plate XL.), the bill (fig. 4) is more slender and less compressed at the sides ; the wings, though long, have narrower and more feeble flight-feathers ; the central feathers of the tail (fig. 6) are prolonged beyond the rest; the tibia is feathered nearly to the tarsal joint; and the tarsus is somewhat shorter than the middle toe and nail. The toes (fig. 5) are thus comparatively longer, and, besides being more slender, are not margined to the same extent as in T. crassirostris, although this feature is more noticeable in T. gracilis than in T. alpina, which may be said to be almost devoid of any emargination, while the nails are shorter and weaker. A considerable difference is observable in the contour of the tail in these three species, as may be seen from the accompanying figures (Plate X L . figs. 3, 6, 9). In the letter which accompanied the specimen now before me, Professor Baird likened the species to Tringa maritima, but remarked that he had received " specimens in which the black pectoral spot is much more distinct and better defined" [than in the specimen he sent me], " resembling somewhat that of T. alpina, only situated considerably further up on the breast." In some respects no doubt the bird in question does resemble T. maritima, as, for instance, in having the tibia more or less feathered, in having the tarsus if any thing shorter than the middle toe, and again in the contour of the tail. But it differs entirely from T. maritima in the character of the nuptial plumage, as also in the colour of the soft parts-the legs * Several naturalists who have met with T. crassirostris for the first time, as Messrs. H u m e , Swinhoe, Blakiston, and others, have likened it, from its robust size, to the Knot, T. canutus; and M r . Swinhoe has named it the Chinese Knot. There can be little doubt, however, from the character of its seasonal changes of plumage, as well as from certain similarities of structure, that its affinities are with the Dunlin, T. alpina. |