I have observed that the flight of the Pectoral Sandpiper resembles that of the Knot, and is firm, rapid, and well sustained. It skims rather low over the surface of the water or the land, and at times shoots high up into the air, propelling itself with double rapidity and in perfect silence. It runs with great agility, and probes the sand or wet earth, immersing its bill up to the base. I never saw this species in any part of the interior. Its places of resort during the breeding season, and the changes of plumage which it undergoes, are unknown.
Tringa pectoralis, Pectoral Sandpiper, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 318.
Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa pectoralis, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. iv. p. 43. pl. 23. fig. 2.—Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 111.
Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCXCIV. Fig. 1.
Bill rather longer than the head, slender, subcylindrical, straight, flexible, compressed at the base, the point rather depressed and obtuse. Upper mandible with the dorsal line straight, slightly decurved towards the end, the ridge convex, towards the end a little flattened, at the point convex, the sides sloping, the edges rather blunt and soft. Nasal groove extending to near the tip; nostrils basal, linear, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides nearly erect, with a long narrow groove, the tip a little broader but tapering.
Head of moderate size, oblong, compressed. Eyes rather large. Neck of moderate length. Body rather slender. Feet of moderate length, slender; tibia bare for a considerable length; tarsus compressed, anteriorly and posteriorly with numerous small scutella; hind toe very small; the rest rather long, slender, the fourth slightly longer than the second, the third longest, all free, scutellate above, flat beneath, slightly marginate; claws rather small, slightly arched, compressed, acute, that of third toe much larger, with the inner edge dilated.
Plumage very soft, blended beneath, slightly distinct above. Wings long and pointed; primaries tapering, obtuse, the first longest, the second considerably shorter, the rest regularly graduated; outer secondaries short, obliquely rounded, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail of twelve feathers, rather short, nearly even, but with the middle feathers much longer and pointed, the rest rounded.
Bill dull olive-green, dusky towards the point. Iris hazel. Feet dull yellowish-green; claws dusky. Upper part of the head reddish-brown, the central part of each feather brownish-black; a faint whitish line from the bill to a little beyond the eye; lores dusky; sides of the head and anterior and lateral parts of the neck, with a portion of the breast, light brownish-grey, marked with dark brown lines; chin and the rest of the lower parts white. The feathers on the upper parts are brownish-black, edged with reddish-brown, those on the wings lighter, primary quills dusky; the outer secondaries tinged with grey, the inner like the feathers of the back. Tail-feathers light brownish-grey, slightly margined and tipped with white, the two central dark like the back.
Length to end of tail 9 1/4 inches, to end of wings 9 1/4; to end of claws 10 1/2; extent of wings 18; wing from flexure 5 10/12; tail 2 7/12; bill along the ridge 1 1/4, along the edge of lower mandible 1 2/12; bare part of tibia 5 1/2/8, tarsus 1 1 1/2/12, middle toe 7/8, its claw 3/12. Weight 6 oz.
Adult Female in summer. Plate CCXCIV. Fig. 2.