SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, ETC. 



233 



Melville Island. Ellesmere Land, and northern Green- Greenland and New Uriniiwiek to Long Island; casual 



land south to Melville Peninsula, Cumberland Sound, in migration to the Great Lakes, Georgia, Florida, and 



and southern Greenland, and in Norway, Russia, Siberia, llernuida, and in the Eastern Hemisphere south to 



Iceland, ami Faroe Islands ; winters from southern Great liritain and the Meiliterraneaii. 



A member of the Snipe family feedinij im the 

 wintry beach seems ahniost as much out of place 

 as a Hummingbird and the observer is likely to 

 think the bird's journey has been interrupted b)' 

 injury. 



I have seen Purple Sandpipers on the rocky 

 Alaine coast in December, searching carefully 

 in seaweed for their food and ap]iareiitly 

 indifferent to the cold. As nearly as I could 

 make out they seemed to be feeding on small 

 mussels and clams, which they swallowed shell 

 and all. 



Although nowhere common in America, since 

 its jM'incipal line of migration follows through 

 Norway into other jiarts of Kurope, it can be 

 found during the winter months as far south as 

 Long Island, X. Y., where, like the Ipswich 

 Sjjarrow, it is less rare than is generally sup- 

 posed because few observers braxe the open 

 wind-swept dunes in winter. 



Two varieties of the Purple Sandpiper occur 

 in Alaska. These are the iMeutian Sandpijier 

 { ArqiiatcUa uuiritiuia coucsi) and the Pribilof 

 or Black-breasted Sandpiper (.IrquatcUa iiiari- 

 thiia ptilociicnus). When hrst described these 

 two subspecies were supposed to be separate 

 species from each other and from the Purple 

 Sandpijier, although a close relationship be- 

 tween the three was acknowledged. Careful 

 study has established their exact status. In their 

 respective winter plumages the Aleutian and 

 J'ur[)le Sandpipers are not distinguishable and in 

 the other seasons there is very little real differ- 

 ence between them, but the Aleutian both breeds 

 and winters within the boundaries of Alaska, 

 occasionally straying o\er to Plover Bay, Siberia. 

 The Pribilof Sandpiper breeds on the St. Law- 

 rence, St. Matthew, and Pribilof islands and 

 w inters on the coast of southeastern Alaska. 



R. I. Br.xshek. 



PECTORAL SANDPIPER 

 Pisobia maculata (I'icillot) 



A. O. U. .Xuniber 2,59 ."^ee Color IMate 35 



Other Names. — Grass Snipe; Jack Snipe; Grass- 

 bird; Meadow Snipe; Cow Snipe; Brownie: Brown- 

 back; Triddler ; Hay-bird; Fat-bird; Short-neck; Squat 

 Snipe; Squatter; Krieker ; Marsh Plover. 



General Description. — Length, 9 inches. Color 

 above, brownish-black ; below, white marked with dusky 

 on breast. Tail double notched, the middle tail-feathers 

 pointed and longer than all the others. 



Color. — Crown, streaked with blackish-brown and 

 chestnut ; sides of head, neck, and brea.^t, pale yc//^)ii'i.v/i- 

 broien, spotted zi'ith diishy brozi'u ; upper parts, brozen- 

 ish-blach, each feather edged zvith ashy or chestnut. 

 shoulder feathers with lighter margins; outer upper 

 tail-coverts, white with arrowhead spots of dusky; 

 lesser coverts, brown with broad brownish-ash edges; 

 secondaries and greater coverts, brownish, edged and 

 tipped with white ; primaries, dusky black ; central tail- 

 feathers, brozi'nish-btack with lighter edges; rest of 



tail-feathers, ashy, margined with white ; throat, abdo- 

 men, and under tail-coverts, white; sides, yellowish- 

 lirown spotted with dusky ; bill and legs, dusky-green- 

 ish ; broad, indistinct stripe above, and a ring around, 

 eye, whitish. 



Nest and Eggs. — Nest : On the ground ; a mere 

 depression, sparsely lined with grass. Eggs: 4. green- 

 ish-drab, spotted and blotched with brown. 



Distribution. — North and South .America ; breeds on 

 the .Xrctic coast from northern Alaska to mouth of 

 Yukon and northeastern Mackenzie ; winters in South 

 America from Peru and Bolivia to northern Chile, 

 Argentina, and central Patagonia; in migration very 

 rare on Pacific coast south of British Columbia, except 

 in Lower California; common in fall migration in Mis- 

 sissippi valley and on the .•\tlantic coast, rare in spring; 

 casual in northeastern Siberia, Unalaska, and Green- 

 land ; accidental in Hawaii and England. 



" During the mating season the male Pectoral 

 Sandpiper develops a great pouch, formed of 

 the skin of the throat and breast, which he is 



able to inflate until it is nearly as large as the 

 body. He now becomes a song bird, and flutters 

 upward twenty or thirty yards in the air, as if 



