VARIETIES OF THE DUNLIN.
By J. Backhouse.
For several years past, when observing birds on the coast of Yorkshire, the writer has taken particular notice of what may be looked upon as our commonest Wader—the Dunlin. He has also seen the species repeatedly at its breeding haunts upon some of the highest Yorkshire "Fells," and now ventures to offer a few remarks upon the subject for the benefit of those who, like himself, know and can appreciate these common and often despised little birds wherever they meet with them. That two remarkably distinct races of the Dunlin regularly occur in Yorkshire is a fact realised by ornithologists, and by those who are habitual gunners on our coasts. The one is a strongly built bird, with long straight bill, and wings some 4¾ in. in length, found in enormous flocks, often congregating with other Waders; the other is a smaller, slighter built bird, with a shorter and straighter bill, and a decidedly shorter wing-measurement.
The latter bird is more solitary in its ways, and, as the late Mr. John Cordeaux points out, "differs from the more common species in resorting to the borders of the marsh-drains, or to the 'fittie-land' adjoining the 'muds,' in preference to the flats, and is remarkable for its extreme tameness, permitting a very close approach." This small Dunlin was described by Brehm, under the distinctive title Tringa schinzii, as early as 1822, and, as compared with certain other so-called species, is equally worthy of a separate designation to-day; for, although mere relative measurements of bill or wing may not of themselves be looked upon as sufficient to differentiate the two forms specifically, there are other reasons why the question should, we think, be reconsidered. The following illustration showing the typical heads of the respective forms is here given, in the hope that it may prove useful as showing the general pose of the bill in each case.
