580 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. 



Europe, and the correctness of its supposed identification on the 

 Asiatic side of Bering Strait is open to question. In summer it is 

 distributed across the Barren grounds, from Point Barrow and the 

 mouth of the Yukon to Hudson Bay ; while on migration it is 

 common throughout the Dominion of Canada and the United 

 States, ranging to the Bermudas, Bahamas and West Indies 

 generally, and as far south as Patagonia and Chile in winter. It 

 has occurred several times in the south and west of Greenland. 



The naturalists of the United States Expedition to Point Barrow 

 in 1882 and 1883 obtained eighteen sets of eggs, each complete 

 clutch consisting of 4 ; these have a drab or greenish ground-colour, 

 blotched with umber-brown : measurements i"5 by i*i in. The nest 

 is said to be built in the grass, in some high and dry locality, and 

 never in the marsh like that of Phalaropes. The birds pair soon 

 after their arrival towards the end of May or early in June, when the 

 male may be seen taking short, low flights, with the wings held high 

 and beaten stiffly, while the throat is puffed out like a goitre (whence 

 the name Pectoral), and a muffled hoo, hoo, hoo, hoo, is constantly 

 repeated. The food consists of insects — especially coleoptera, and 

 sea-weed, on which the birds become remarkably fat. 



The adult has the feathers of the upper parts dark brown with 

 buff and rufous margins ; secondaries with but little white on their 

 edges ; rump and tail-coverts dusky-brown ; central tail-feathers nearly 

 black, the rest ash-brown with paler margins ; cheeks and throat 

 dull white striped with hair-brown ; breast bufifish, profusely streaked 

 with brown : under parts white. The sexes do not differ in plumage. 

 Length 8 in. (bill I'l), wing 5*3 in. The young bird has fewer 

 stripes on the breast. 



An adult example of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper was 

 shot on August 29th 1892, at Breydon, Norfolk ; while a bird of this 

 species, now in the Norwich Museum, is said to have been obtained 

 near Yarmouth in September 1848. The former is described and 

 figured in 'The Ibis' 1893, pp. 181-185, P^- ^'• 



This species breeds in Eastern Siberia, but its eggs are as yet 

 undescribed. In autumn it visits the Commander Islands, wanders 

 to Alaska, and passes along the east side of Asia to Australia, New 

 Zealand, and Polynesia. 



The adult is more rufous than the American species on the crown, 

 mantle and breast, and the markings on the under parts are pro- 

 nouncedly arrow-shaped and descend to the flanks. The young bird 

 has very few stripes on the breast. Length 7*4 in. ; wing 5 '25 in. 



