WADERS 391 



95 9" E. long-., off the north-west coast of the Taimyr 

 Peninsula, the most northerly land of the Asiatic 

 continent. I quote the following" dates of breeding- from 

 the Ibis, 1904, p. 228: — 



Knot . . . from June 9th (1 egg", fresh). 

 Curlew-sandpiper ,, ,, 1 ith (4 egg's, fresh). 

 Sanderling . . ,, ,, 25th (4 eggs, incubated). 



The grey plover and little stint were also nesting here ; 

 but not the god wit, though flights of adults passed over 

 on June 19th, and young appeared by July 30th. 



The above results indicate beyond all doubt the main 

 breeding-ground of the six species named. The actual 

 number of nests found was quite trifling in each case ; 

 but that is explained by the region being so vast and 

 so inaccessible that hardly an appreciable portion of its 

 extent has yet been touched. 



The curlew-sandpiper is also a remarkable example 

 of wide geographical range, and of marvellous powers of 

 flight in a species no bigger than a snipe. Though 

 breeding in the remote penetralia of the Arctic, yet in 

 winter Europe is not wide enough for it. During 

 September it passes southwards : some travelling by the 

 western route, via Norway, England, France, and Spain ; 

 others crossing mid-Europe ; while a third contingent, 

 undaunted even by such barriers as the Central-Asian 

 deserts and 20,000 feet of the Himalayas, boldly traverses 

 the Asiatic continent at its widest points. Of the first 

 two sections, a few winter in the Mediterranean ; but 

 the majority push forward along both coasts of Africa, 

 and, crossing the tropics, winter on the shores of Cape 

 Colony, Natal, and Madagascar. Then the trans- 

 Asiatic section, after reaching the coasts of India, 



