Bill one-third longer than the head, slightly decurved, dark olive; feet light olive-green; head, neck, and breast, bright yellowish-red, sides whitish, lower tail-coverts white, with a brownish-black spot towards the end; on the upper part of the head the central parts of the feathers dark brown, and the hind neck and sides of the breast slightly streaked with the same; upper parts mottled with brownish-black and light red, the rump pale brownish-grey, as are the smaller wing-coverts; quills greyish-brown, primaries darker, outer secondaries light and tipped with white, inner darker, and glossed with green; upper tail-coverts white, spotted with brown and red; tail pale brownish-grey, glossed with green. In winter, the feathers of the upper parts dark brown, edged with darker, and margined with greyish-yellow; lore, cheeks, and sides of the neck and body greyish-yellow, with dusky lines; a broad band from mandible over the eye, the fore part of the neck, and the rest of the lower parts white; quills and tail as in winter, but lighter. Young in autumn like the adult in winter.
Accidental on the Florida coast in winter, rare on those of the middle districts. Breeds in high latitudes. Migratory.
Tringa subarquata, Bonap. Syn. p. 317.
Cape Curlew or Sandpiper, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 104.
Curlew Sandpiper, Tringa subarquata, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iii. p. 444.
335. 8. Tringa Himantopus, Bonap. Long-legged Sandpiper.
Plate CCCXLIV. Adult in spring and winter.
Bill a third longer than the head, slender, very slightly decurved; greenish-black; legs long, slender, yellowish-green. In summer, their upper parts brownish-black, the feathers margined with reddish-white, the edges of the scapulars with semiform markings of the same; rump and upper tail-coverts white, transversely barred with dusky; tail light grey, the feathers white at the base and along the middle; primary quills and coverts brownish-black, inner tinged with grey, the shaft of the outer primary white; secondaries brownish-grey, margined with reddish-white, the inner dusky; a broad whitish line over the eye; loral space dusky; auriculars pale brownish-red; fore part and sides of neck greyish-white tinged with red, and longitudinally streaked with dusky, the rest of the lower parts pale reddish, transversely barred with dusky, the middle of the breast and the abdomen without markings. In winter, the upper parts brownish-grey, the head narrowly streaked with dusky, the scapulars plainly margined with whitish; the rump and wings as in summer; the band over the eye lighter, the fore part and sides of neck greyish-white, longitudinally streaked with grey, the sides similar, and with the lower coverts barred with grey, the rest of the lower parts white.
Male, 71/2-83/4, 151/2-17. Female, 81/2-101/2, 161/2-18.
Abundant in Texas in spring. Rare in the Middle Districts. Breeds in the Fur Countries. Migratory.
Tringa himantopus, Bonap. Syn. p. 316.
Tringa Douglassii, Swains. Douglass' Sandpiper, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 379.
Tringa himantopus, Slender-shank Sandpiper, Swains. & Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 380.