The plumage presents the same characters as in the male. The bill is of a darker greyish-blue; iris as in the male; feet darker. The top of the head, and all the upper parts, are dark reddish-brown, minutely dotted and undulated with dusky; wings and tail as in the male; lower parts duller than in the male, but similarly marked; the throat, and a band from the base of the upper mandible to beneath the eye, brownish-white.
Male one year old. Plate CCCXLIII. Fig. 3.
Bill, eyes, and feet as in the adult. A similar white patch on the side of the head; upper part of head and hind neck dull blackish-brown; throat and sides of the neck greyish-brown; lower part of neck, dull reddish-brown, waved with dusky; upper parts as in the adult, but of a duller tint; lower parts greyish-white.
Young in December. Plate CCCXLIII. Fig. 4.
Bill dusky; iris hazel; feet yellowish-green, webs dusky. All the upper parts dull reddish-brown tinged with grey, and barred with dusky; wings and tail dark greyish-brown. Cheeks, fore part and sides of neck, and all the lower parts, dull yellowish-white, undulated with dusky; as is the rump above; the lower tail-coverts white.
The tongue of a male is 1 inch 8 twelfths long, and of the same general form as that of the Fuligulæ, but a little more dilated at the end. The œsophagus is 1/2 inch in diameter until its entrance into the thorax, when it contracts, and again expands to 6 twelfths, to form the proventriculus, of which the glandules are oblong, small, and very numerous, occupying a space of 2 1/4 inches in length. The stomach is a strong gizzard, of a roundish form, 1 inch 5 twelfths long, 1 1/2 inch broad; its lateral muscles very large, and about 8 twelfths thick; the epithelium confined to two round spaces 1/2 inch in diameter, opposite the lateral muscles. The intestine is 5 feet 1 1/2 inch long, its diameter varying from 5 twelfths to 3 1/2 twelfths. The rectum is 2 inches 10 twelfths long; the cœca 4 inches 2 twelfths their greatest diameter 2 1/2 twelfths.
In another male, the œsophagus is 7 1/2 inches long; the stomach 1 inch 5 twelfths long, 1 inch 6 twelfths broad; the intestine 5 feet 11 inches long; the rectum 2 3/4 inches; the cœca 4 1/8 inches, their greatest diameter 2 1/2 twelfths.
The trachea is 5 3/4 inches long. The thyroid bone is comparatively large, forming an expansion 7 twelfths long, 5 twelfths broad. At its upper part the trachea has a diameter of 3 twelfths, about the middle enlarges to 4 twelfths, and so continues nearly to the end, when it contracts to 2 twelfths. The last ring is very large, being formed of five or six united rings, of which the last two or three are split; but there is no expansion or tympanum as in other ducks. The muscles are as in the other species of this family. The bronchi are of moderate length, with about 15 half rings.
LONG-LEGGED SANDPIPER.
Tringa Himantopus, Bonap.
PLATE CCCXLIV.