112 ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



iug his arms out as if tlyiug, and moving them rapidly up and down 

 and simultaneously uttering any sound is bound to "bleat." Having 

 heard, however, from my early days, of the wing or tail theories as the 

 only orthodox ones, I did not feel convinced of the correctness of my 

 own opinion until one evening I heard another bird of the same family 

 produce a very similar note while sittiwj on the ground. Eeferring to 

 the observation recorded under ArquateUa couesi, I here only remark 

 that the sound was so similar as to leave no doubt whatever in my mind 

 that it had a similar origin in both cases.* It may be that a Snipe has 

 uever been observed bleating on the ground, but the fact that a so nearly 

 allied bird is capable of producing essentially the same sound while in 

 that position is an argument in favor of the more natural explanation 

 of the sound originating from the organ which in almost all other 

 instances is adapted to that purpose. 



Sp. ArquateUa couesi Ridgw. 



1826. — Trijnqa arquatella var. Paix., Zooj^r. Ross. As., II, p. 190. 

 ISQQ.—TnngamarUima Dall & BANX.,Tr. Chic. Acad., I, 1869 (p. 291) {nee Brunn).— 



Baird, ibid. (p. 717).— Harting, P. Z. S-, 1871, p. 116.— FixscH, Abli. Brem. 



Ver., Ill, p. 65 (1872).— Dall, Avif. Aleut. Isl. Uual. eastw., p. 4 (1873).— 



Id., Avif. Aleut. Isl. west Uuul., p. 6 (1874). — PalmiSn, Swed. Cat. Lond. 



Fish. Exb., p. 203 a883). 

 ISSQ.— ArquateUa couesi Ridgw., Bull. Nutt. Oru. CI., 1880, p. 160.— Bkan, Pr. U. S. 



Nat. Mns., 1882, p. 164. — Nelson, Cruise Corwiu, p. 85, cfr. p. 56 e (1883). 

 1%Q'A.— Arquatella sp. Stf:jneger, Pr. U. S. Nat. Mus., 1883, p. 69. 

 1884. — Tringa crassirostris Bogdan., Cousp. Av. Ross., I, p. 88 {nee Temm. & Sohleg.) 



The Aleutian Sandpiper is a perfectly good and distinct species, 

 readily distinguished in all plumages from Arquatella mariiima, with 

 which it until a late date usually has been confounded. Having noth- 

 ing to add to the excellent exposition given bj" Robert Ridgway in 

 the Nuttall Bulletin for 1880 (p. IGO), of the characters of this and 

 allied species I only refer to that very important paper. It may, how- 

 ever, be well to emphasize that this species takes the jdace oi Arqua- 

 tella maritima 13runn. in the Pacific, and that A. maritima is not found 

 on this side at all. All earlier references to that species as occurring 

 in Bering Sea or adjacent waters properly belong either to couesi or 

 ptilocneniis. 



Arquatella iitilocnemis CouES, from the Prybilof Islands, does not 

 winter on the Commander Islands, as conjectured by Mr. W. H. Elliott 

 (Monogr. Seal Islands, p. 129), nor does it visit them during the migra- 



* I would uot be surprised if tbe "drumming" sonud of Bonasa umiclhis is capable 

 of a similar explauatiou, but having had no opportunities of observiug the bird myself 

 I otier this remark only as »hiut for ornithologists with better facilities. 



