_Actitis macularius._
_Tringa macularia_, +Wils.+—Aud. pl. 310.
_Actitis macularius_, +Boie+.
[106] Length 7¹⁄₂ inches, expanse 12, flexure 4, tail 1⁹⁄₁₀, rictus
1¹⁄₂₀, tarsus 1¹⁄₁₀, middle toe ⁹⁄₁₀. Intestine 9 inches; two cæca
1¹⁄₂ inch from cloaca, 1 inch long, very slender.
This is a common species with us, affecting principally the margins and
shallows of rocky streams, such as Bluefield River. It arrives from the
north about the end of August, and remains certainly till after the
middle of April, and I am not sure that individuals do not stay all the
summer.
Wilson has delineated the manners of this bird in a very interesting
manner, to which I have nothing to add. One which was wounded in the
wing, I put into a cage for an hour or two; during which time it
frequently made a succession of charges at the wires, squatting down at
intervals on the belly. When it walked, it was in a singular manner;
the heel much bent, the tarsus forming an acute angle with the ground,
and the toes thrown forward.