46 BULLETIN 146^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



what like the tew^ teio^ tew of the greater yellowlegs, but more sub- 

 dued." Mr. Murie (1924) writes: 



Whenever I approached the home grounds of a wandering tattler he would 

 fly to meet me and would scold excitedly, uttering a vigorous deedle-deedle- 

 deedle-deedle-dee, with variations which I failed to record minutely. 



Fall. — Doctor Nelson (1887) says: 



They usually reappear on the seacoast about St. Michaels the last of July 

 or very early in August and remain until from the 1st to 10th of September. 

 During their presence on the coast of Norton Sound they show a decided 

 preference for the most rugged and rock-bound parts of the shore, rarely or 

 never occurring elsewhere. It is a frequent and regular summer bird on the 

 rocky parts of the coast to the vicinity of Bering Straits and occurs on the 

 islands and Siberian shore of Bering Sea. 



William Palmer (1899) says that on the Pribilof Islands: 



It is the first species to return in the fall ; adult birds, July 10 and after- 

 wards. Usually in pairs on the surf-swept rocks, but sometimes seen — usually 

 the brownish, unbarred, and less wary immature — on open sandy places, and 

 sometimes with the turnstones on a sandy beach. They are not shy, but 

 are seldom noticed when perched on the wet rocks, which harmonize so well 

 with their color. Solitary birds remain quiet and unseen and will permit 

 one to approach quite close, frequently startling us as they get up suddenly, 

 almost under our very feet, and uttering their loud, shrill cry, flying oft to 

 another resting place. 



From the Aleutian Islands and the interior of Alaska there is a 

 southv/ard migration to the islands in the Pacific, where it spends 

 the winter, and a more general movement southward along the 

 Pacific coast of North America. D. E. Brown's notes record it on 

 the coast of Washington from August 10 to September 15. It has 

 been recorded in California early in July, but these were perhaps 

 summ.er sojourners; the return movement seems to come along be- 

 tween July 15 and August. H. W. Henshaw (1902) says that the 

 return migrants begin to appear in the Hawaiian Islands " about the 

 middle or latter part of August " ; he noticed that " the first comers 

 are adults, chiefly males, and still in nuptial dress." 



Winter. — The Santa Barbara Islands, off the coast of southern 

 California, mark the northern limit of the normal winter range of 

 the wandering tattler, where a few may always be found in winter. 

 Most of the birds go farther south. W. B. Alexander tells me that 

 the wandering tattler occasionally visits Cape York, North Queens- 

 land, and there is a specimen, unquestionably of this species, in the 

 Museum of Comparative Zoology in Cambridge, from Australia, 



DISTRIBUTION 



Ba7ige.— Western North and South America, eastern Asia, and 

 Oceanica. 



