SOLITARY SANDPIPER 9 



early September. J. A. Mimro tells me that he gets both forms 

 regularly at Okanagan Landing, British Columbia. 



Wmter. — A few birds may spend the winter in the West Indies, 

 but the main winter home of the species is in South America. The 

 distribution of the two forms in winter is not well understood and 

 probably both races are more or less mixed. W. H. Hudson (1920) 

 writes : 



I was once pleased and much amused to discover in a small, sequestered pool 

 in a wood, well sheltered from sight by trees and aqnatic plants, a solitary 

 sandpiper living in company with a blue bittern. The bittern patiently watched 

 for small fishes and when not fishing dozed on a low branch overhanging the 

 water, while its companion ran briskly along the margin snatching up minute 

 insects from the water. When disturbed they rose together, the bittern with 

 its harsh, grating scream, the sandpiper daintily piping its fine, bright notes — 

 a wonderful contrast! Every time I visited the pool afterwards I found these 

 two hermits, one so sedate in manner the other so lively, living peacefully 

 together. 



DISTRIBUTION 



Range. — North America chiefly east of the Rocky Mountains to 

 South America. 



Breeding range. — The only unquestioned eggs of the solitary sand- 

 piper that have been collected have come from Alberta where it is 

 known to breed from the northern part south as far as Stony Plain 

 and Eed Lodge. A pair of adult birds with young also were collected 

 in 1921, 30 miles below Fort Simpson, Mackenzie (Williams, 1922), 

 while the same observer found them common in the vicinity of Fort 

 Norman, Mackenzie, as late as August 14. 



It has been reported breeding as far south as Iowa (Keokuk and 

 Winneshiek Counties) ; Ohio (Columbus) ; and Pennsylvania 

 (Pocono Mountain and Beaver) ; and east to New Hampshire (Isle 

 of Shoals, Franconia, and Appleclore; Maine (Penobscot and 

 Aroostook Counties) ; and Quebec (Lake Mistassinni and Godbout). 

 The circumstances attendant upon each of these and intermediate 

 cases are such as to cause doubts concerning their authenticity, 

 although it seems probable that the species did (and possibly still 

 does) breed somewhere in eastern North America. 



'Winter range. — The solitary sandpipers wintering in South 

 America have been determined subspecifically only on a few occasions, 

 so it should be understood that the following outline includes both 

 solitaria and cinnaniomea. Specimens collected in Colombia by Chap- 

 man and Todd all prove to be solitaria, while Chapman obtained 

 both races in Ecuador. 



The winter range of the species extends north to Vera Cruz 

 (Piaya Vicente) ; rarely Florida (probably Pensacola, probably 



