search | about the author | about the text
(Tringa glareola, Faun. Suec.)
THIS species of Tringa appears to be a rare bird in this country, and to find proper names for it, has been attended with doubts and difficulties. Latham names it glareola, but treats of it as a variety of the Tringa ochropus (Green Sandpiper) of Linnęus, and the Tringa littorea, or young of the same, and also as the Shore Sandpiper of the Arctic Zoology. Montagu considers this bird to be quite distinct from the Green Sandpiper or any of its varieties, and wishes to change its name from Wood Sandpiper to Long-legged Sandpiper, to prevent its being confounded with any of these; but as it is not very remarkable for the length of its legs, those of others of the same genus being about as long, we have thought it best to retain his former name.
The upper mandible appears dusky, the under one reddish, a dark streak passes from the bill to the eyes, and a whitish one over them; the upper part of the head to the nape, is bronze brown, narrowly streaked with ferruginous; cheeks mottled with dingy white and dull brown; the throat and breast the same, but becoming more dappled on the sides of the breast, the fore part of which and the throat are mostly dull white and pale brown; the rest of the neck is streaked with the same dingy colours; the upper plumage (like the head) is bronzed brown, spotted with reddish dull or rusty white, and the scapulars and tertials are indented more or less with deeper shades of the same colour: the legs seemed to have been green. The specimen from which the above figure was engraven, was lent to this work by N. A. Vigors, Esq. jun. of Chelsea.
Page last modified 10/9/2000.
These pages are best viewed/printed with Internet Explorer, the browser that you're not using right now....
Like this page? Let me know. Hate it? Let me know that too. Click here to offer feedback.
©1999-2002 The edited materials, images, and photographs on this site should not be reproduced without the written permission of Peter Friesen. Contact peter.friesen@plattsburgh.edu for information.
