Sandpiper, s. A bird.
The tongue of the sandpiper is slender; toes divided, or very slightly connected at the base by a membrane; hinder toe weak; their bills are nearly of the same form as those of the preceding species, but shorter: their haunts and manner of life are also very similar. Latham has enumerated thirty-seven species and nine varieties of this genus, seventeen of which are British, exclusive of those which, in this work, are placed among the plovers; but the history and classifications of this genus are involved in much uncertainty.
Common Sandpiper. (Tringa hypoleucus, Linn.; La Guignette, Buff.)—This bird weighs about two ounces, and measures seven inches and a half in length. The bill is about an inch long, black at the tip, fading into pale-brown towards the base. The head, and hinder part of the neck, are brownish-ash, streaked downwards with dark narrow lines: the throat is white, and a streak of the same colour surrounds and is extended over each eye; the cheeks and auriculars are streaked with brown; the forepart of the neck, to the breast, is white, mottled and streaked with spots and lines of a brown colour, pointing downwards; in some the breast is plain white; belly and vent white. The ground-colour of all the upper parts of the plumage is ash, blended with glossy olive bronze; the coverts, scapulars, lower part of the back, and tail-coverts, are edged with dull white, and most elegantly marked with transverse dark-coloured narrow, waved lines; the first two quills are plain brown; the next nine are marked on the middle of their inner webs, with white spots; the secondaries are also marked in the same manner, on both webs, and tipped with white. The tail consists of twelve feathers; the four middle ones are of an olive brown, dark at the tips; those next to them, on each side, are much lighter coloured, mottled with dark-brown and tipped with white; the two outside ones are edged and tipped in the same manner, but are barred on their webs with dark-brown; legs pale dull-green, faintly blushed with red.
This elegant little bird breeds in this country, but the species is not numerous; yet they are frequently seen in pairs during the summer months; and are well known by their clear piping note, by their flight, by jerking up their tails, and by their manner of running after their insect prey on the pebbly margins of brooks and rivers. The female makes her nest in a hole on the ground near their haunts; her eggs, commonly five in number, are much mottled and marked with dark spots, on a yellowish ground. They leave England in the autumn; but whither they go is not particularly noticed by ornithologists. Buffon says they retire far north; and Pennant and Latham, that they are met with in Siberia and Kamtschatka, and are also not uncommon in North America.
Brown Sandpiper. (Fusca.)—Pennant describes this bird, which, he says, was bought in a London market, and preserved in the collection of the late M. Tunstall, Esq., of Wycliffe:—Size of a jacksnipe; the bill is black; the head, upper part of the neck, and back, are of a pale-brown, spotted with black; coverts of the wings dusky, edged with dirty white; under side of the neck white, streaked with black; the belly white; tail cinereous: legs black.
Greenwich Sandpiper. (Greenovicensis.)—Size of the redshank; weight nearly eight ounces; length twelve inches and a half; bill an inch and a half long, black; crown of the head reddish-brown, streaked with black; nape, cheeks, and neck, ash-colour; the middle of the feathers dusky, down the shaft; lower part of the neck and back, black; the feathers margined on the sides with pale ferruginous, and some of those of the back at the tips also; chin nearly white; forepart of the neck very pale ash-colour, as far as the breast, which is a dusky white; belly, sides, vent, and upper tail-coverts on each side, and the whole of the under ones, white; lesser wing-coverts ash-colour; the greater, the same, obscurely margined with pale ferruginous; greatest tipped with white; under wing coverts pure white; prime quills dusky, the shafts more or less white; secondaries and scapulars nearly the colour of the back; the secondaries and primaries very little differing in length; the lower part of the back, rump, and middle of the tail-coverts, ash-colour; tail a little rounded at the end, brownish ash-colour, somewhat mottled with brownish near the tips, and fringed near to the end with pale ferruginous; legs dusky olive-green, bare an inch above the knee; the outer and middle toe connected at the base.
Black Sandpiper. (Tringa cinerea.)—Size of a thrush; the beak short, blunt at the point, and dusky; nostrils black; the irides yellow: the head small, and flattened at the top; the colour white, most elegantly spotted with grey; the neck, shoulders, and back, mottled in the same manner, but darker, being tinged with brown; in some lights these parts appeared of a perfect black, and glossy; the wings were long; the quill feathers black, crossed near the base with a white line; the throat, breast, and belly white, with faint brown and black spots of a longish form, irregularly disposed, but on the belly become larger and more round; the tail short, entirely white, except the two middle feathers, which are black; legs long and slender, and of a reddish brown colour.
Spotted Sandpiper. (Tringa macularia, Linn.; La Grive d’Eau, Buff.)—This bird measures about eight inches in length; the bill is black at the tip, and fades into a reddish colour towards the base; a white streak is extended over each eye, and a brownish patch between them and the bill; the whole upper part of the plumage is of a glossy lightish brown, with green reflections; the head and neck are marked with longish small dark spots; on the back, scapulars, and wing coverts, the spots are larger, and of a triangular shape; the rump is plain; the greater quills are dusky; secondaries tipped with white, as are also the greater and lesser coverts, which form two white oblique lines across the extended wings; the two middle feathers of the tail are greenish brown; the sides ones white, crossed with dusky lines; the breast, belly, and vent, are white, but in the female spotted with brown; legs of a dirty flesh colour. This species is not common in England.
Red-legged, Sandpiper. (Tringa erythropus.)—This bird measures from the tip of the beak to the end of the tail ten inches; the bill is an inch and three-eighths long, black at the tip, and reddish towards the base; the crown of the head is spotted with dark brown, disposed in streaks, and edged with pale brown and grey; a darkish patch covers the space between the corners of the mouth and eyes; the chin is white; the brow and cheeks pale brown, prettily freckled with small dark spots; the hinder part of the neck is composed of a mixture of pale brown, grey, and ash, with a few distinct dusky spots; the forepart and breast are white, clouded with a dull cinnamon colour, and sparingly and irregularly marked with black spots, reflecting a purple gloss; the shoulder and scapular feathers are black, edged with pale rust colour, and have the same glossy reflections as those on the breast; the tertials are nearly the same length as the quills; the ridges of the wings are a brownish ash colour; the coverts, back, and rump, are nearly the same, but inclining to olive, and the middle of each feather is of a deeper dusky brown; the primary quills are deep olive brown; the exterior webs of the secondaries are also of that colour, but lighter, edged and tipped with white, and the inner webs are mostly white towards the base; the tail coverts are glossy black, edged with pale rust colour, and tipped with white, but in some of them a streak of white passes from the middle upwards nearly the whole length. The tail feathers are lightish brown, except the two middle ones, which are barred with spots of a darker hue; the belly and vent are white; legs bare above the knees, and red as sealing-wax; claws black. The female is less than the male, and her plumage more dingy and indistinct; an egg taken out of her previous to stuffing was surprisingly large considering her bulk, being about the size of that of a magpie, of a greenish white colour, spotted and blotched with brown, of a long shape, and pointed at the smaller end. This bird is a constant inhabitant of the fens, and is known to sportsmen by its singular notes, which are very loud and melodious, and are heard even when the bird is beyond the reach of sight.