HETERACTITIS. 377 
differing from it in having the tarsus decidedly shorter, and about equal in length to 
the middle toe and claw. The tibia is bare for a short space. The wing is somewhat 
pointed, the distance between the tips of the secondaries and those of the primaries 
being greater than the length of the tarsus. 
Heteractitis is a very curious genus of Waders. Two species are known, H. brevipes 
and H. incana. The former breeds in Eastern Siberia and Kamtchatka, and winters 
in Australia, passing through China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago on migration. 
H. incana is an American form, breeding in Alaska, passing along the western coast 
of the Nearctic Region, and wintering in the Pacific Islands and N.E. Australia. The 
nasal groove is longer in H. éncana than in H. brevipes, and the tarsus is plated behind 
in the latter species and reticulated in H. incana. Intermediate specimens are met 
with, and Dr. Sharpe suggests that the two forms probably interbreed. 
1. Heteractitis incana. 
Ash-coloured Snipe, Lath. Gen. Syn. iii. pt. 1, p. 154’. 
Scolopax incana, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 658°. 
Heteroscelis incanus, Salv. P. Z.S. 1888, p.429°; Baird, Brewer, & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. 
i. p. 290°*. 
Heteractitis incanus, A. O. U. Check-l. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 95°; Elliot, N. Amer. Shore- 
Birds, p. 185°; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 453°. 
Ptil. viv estiv. Supra cinerascens, alis derso concoloribus, primariis nigricantibus, rhachidibus brunneis vel 
albicanti-brunneis, cauda cinerea; supercilio angusto et facie laterali et colli lateribus albis, nigro lineatis ; 
regione parotica cinerea; corpore subtus albo, gutture vix nigro maculato ; preepectore et corpore reliquo 
subtus albis, nigricanti-cinereo transfasciatis, abdomine imo pure albo ; subalaribus et axillaribus cinereis : 
rostro et pedibus sordide virescentibus; iride brunnea. Long. tota circa 10°0, alee 7:1, caude 2°95, 
culm. 1°85, tarsi 1:2. (Descr. avis ad. ex Acapulco. Mus. nostr.) 
Ptil. hiem. Supra sicut in ptilosi sstiva, sed corpore subtus magis concolore, minime nigro transfasciato, gutture, 
pectore medio, abdomine et subcaudalibus pure albis; gutture imo, pectoris lateribus et hypochondriis 
cinereis ; subalaribus et axillaribus quoque cinereis. Long. tota 10-0, alee 6:95. (Descr. maris adulti ex 
St. Michael’s, Alaska. Mus. nostr.) 
Hab. Norra America, Pacific coast from Alaska southward to Mexico °.—MEeExico, 
Acapulco (Markham #7).—Ocuanta generally ; N.E. Ausrrata‘. 
H. incana breeds in the extreme north, since it passes through the Aleutian and Seal 
Islands in May, June, and July, on its way to the more arctic regions. It returns 
by Alaska in August and September, and winters in the islands of Oceania, migrating 
apparently along the Pacific coast of North America and probably along the coast of 
Western Mexico, as a specimen was obtained by Admiral Markham at Acapulco in 
March 1880 ?. 
The Wandering Tattler, as this species has been very appropriately named by the 
American naturalists, affects rocky shores, either singly or in small parties of three or 
four individuals, flying from rock to rock when disturbed. Dr. Stejneger says that in 
appearance this bird resembles the Spotted Sandpiper, but that it does not flirt its tail or 
BIOL. CENTR.-AMER., Aves, Vol. III., May 1903. 48 
