168 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



grassy spots. Their motions on the wing are very similar to those of the latter, 

 and they were rarely shy. On October 1, 1S80, they were found scattered 

 singly over the marsh, and arose 30 to 40 yards in advance, and made off with 

 a twisting flight, uttering at the same time a short, soft, metallic pleep, pleep, 

 and pursuing an erratic, circuitous flight for a time they generally returned 

 and settled near the spot whence they started. On the shore of Siberia, near 

 North Cape, we found these birds very common, scattered over damp grass 

 flats near the coast, the 1st of August, 1881. The ground was covered with 

 reindeer tracks, and among these the sharp-tailed snipe were seen seeking their 

 food. They were very unsuspicious and allowed us to pass close to them, 

 or circled close about us. From their movements and other circumstances I 

 judged that this district formed part of their breeding grounds, whence they 

 reach the neighboring coast of Alaska in fall. 



Field marks. — The sharp-tailed sandpiper most closely resembles 

 the pectoral sandpiper, but it can often be recognized in the field by 

 the more ruddy color of the upper parts. Most of the feathers of 

 the shoulders, scapulars and secondaries are broadly edged with 

 chestnut; these edgings are paler in winter. The bright chestnut 

 crown, streaked with black, and the ruddy brown suffusion on the 

 chest and sides, might be recognized under favorable circumstances. 



Fall. — Not much seems to be known about the spring migration, 

 but the fall migration is fairly well marked. Doctor Nelson (1887) 

 says: 



They usually make their first appearance on the shore of Norton Sound the 

 last of August, and in a few days become very common. They sometimes 

 remain up to the 12th of October, and I have seen them searching for food 

 along the tide line when the ground was covered with 2 inches of snow. When 

 feeding along the edges of the tide-creeks they may almost be knocked over 

 with a paddle, and when a flock is fired into it returns again and again. 



It is a regular fall migrant in the Pribilof Islands, between August 

 17 and November 9, where it associates in large flocks with the 

 pectoral sandpiper on the seal-killing fields. 



Doctor Stejneger (1885) writes: 



Of this species I only obtained young specimens on Bering Island during the 

 autumnal migration of 1882. From the middle of September and during the 

 following three weeks they were observed both on the tundra near the great 

 lake and on the rocky beach of the ocean searching for Gammarids. They 

 were very shy and mostly single or in small families. Larger flocks were 

 never seen. 



From the Commander Islands the main flight continues on down 

 the Asiatic coast, through Japan, China, and the Malay Archipelago, 

 to New Zealand and Australia, where it spends the winter. 



Winter. — W. B. Alexander writes to me that this is — 



One of the commonest northern breeding birds which visits Australia. My 

 earliest record of their arrival is August 31, 1925, at Cairns, North Queensland, 

 and my latest record April 21, 1922, at Rockhampton, Queensland. From Sep- 

 tember to March they are to be found in small flocks throughout the coastal 

 districts of Australia on the shores of estuaries and lakes and in fresh-water 



