HYPOTHETICAL LIST. 745 



migrating in winter to tlie Eastern and Middle States, the Great Lakes, 

 and the shores of the hirger streams in the upper Mississippi Valle}^ 



This bird is partial to rocky shores and cold weather; a late migrant 

 and likely to remain on the lake shore until ice forms. While we have 

 no actual records for the state, it seems almost certain that the species 

 must occur in suitable places, at least occasionally. E. W. Nelson found 

 it on the shore of Lake Michigan in northeastern IlHnois (Bull. Nutt. 

 Orn. Club, II, 1877, 68). One was obtained near Chicago, on the lake 

 shore, November 7, 1871 (Baird, Brewer and Ridgway, Water Birds I, 

 218). "Dr. Hoy states, in his list of 1852, that this species was abundant 

 at Racine from April 15 to May 20" (Kumlien and Hollister, Birds of 

 Wisconsin, 1903, p. 45). There are also several records for Ontario 

 (Mcllwraith, Birds of Ontario, 1894, 138). 



Length 8 to 9.50 inches; wing'4.85 to 5.40; culmen 1.10 to 1.45; tarsus 

 .90 to 1. 



Curlew Sandpiper. Erolia ferruginea (Brunn.). (244) 



Scarcely distinguishable from the Red-backed Sandpiper except by 

 the expert, but averaging a little larger, with the bill proportionally shorter, 

 but of the same shape. 



Distribution. — The Old World in general; occasional in eastern North 

 America and Alaska. 



This is an extremely rare bird anywhere in America, and its presence 

 in Michigan can be regarded only as accidental. There is said to be a 

 specimen in the Museum of the University of Michigan labeled ''Michigan," 

 but there is no evidence of its origin upon the books. Dr. Gibbs states 

 that D. D. Hughes records it as taken in 1870 (Manuscript Ornithology 

 of Mich.). According to Dr. R. H. Wolcott there should be a specimen 

 in the collection of the Kent Scientific Institute at Grand Rapids labeled 

 "Detroit, 1869," but the writer found no specimen whatever of the Curlew 

 Sandpiper in the Kent Scientific Museum, after a careful examination 

 in November, 1905. It is not improbable that all these records are based 

 on immature examples of the Red-backed Sandpiper. 



Western Semipalmated Sandpiper. Ereunetes mauri Cahmiis. (247) 



Synonyms: Peei^, Western Sandpiper. — Ereunetes occidentalis, I^awr. 



In plumage so Hke the ordinary Semipalmated Sandpiper as to be separ- 

 able only by the expert; but the bill of the western bird averages decidedly 

 longer, measuring .88 of an inch in the male and 1.05 in the female, so that 

 if specimens are carefully sexed there should be no trouble in separating 

 them. 



Distribution. — Chiefly western United States, frequent eastward to 

 the Atlantic coast; breeding far north and migrating in winter to Central 

 and South America. 



So far as we can find, this species, or subspecies, has not been recorded from 

 Michigan; but, since it occurs in some numbers to the eastward, and has 

 been taken regularly on Lake Koskkonong, Wisconsin (Kumlien and 

 Hollister, Birds of Wisconsin 1903, 48), there is some pro])ability that it 

 might be found in Micliigan during migration if carefully sought. 



