■ 406 Capt. H. W. Feilden on the Birds observed 



7. ^GiALiTis HiATicuLA. Ringed Plover. 



Only a single example of this species was observed in Smith 

 Sound, It was obtained 4th August, 1875, on the beach 

 bordering the valley of the Twin glacier, in Buchanan Strait 

 (lat. 78° 48' N.). My attention was drawn to the bird by 

 its note ; and I then observed it threading its way among 

 the stones and stranded blocks of ice near the water^s edge. 

 It was probably nesting in the neighbourhood, as it proved 

 on examination to be a female, with the feathers worn off 

 the underparts from incubation. 



8. Calidris arenaria. Sanderling. 



I first observed this species in Grinnell Land on the 5th 

 June, 1876, flying in company with Knots and Turnstones ; 

 at this date it was feeding, like the other Waders, on the buds 

 of Saxifraga oppositifolia. This bird was by no means abun- 

 dant along the coasts of Grinnell Land ; but I observed several 

 pairs in the aggregate, and found a nest of this species con- 

 taining two eggs, in lat. 82° 33' N., on 24th June, 1876. 

 This nest, from which I killed the male bird, was placed on 

 a gravel ridge, at an altitude of several hundred feet above 

 the sea ; and the eggs were deposited in a slight depression 

 in the centre of a recumbent plant of arctic willow, the lining 

 of the nest consisting of a fewwithered leaves and some of the 

 last year's catkins. 8th August, 1876, along the shores of 

 Robeson Channel, I saw several parties of young ones, three 

 to four in number, following their parents, and led by the 

 old birds, searching most diligently for insects. At this date 

 they were in a very interesting stage of plumage, being just 

 able to fly, but retaining some of the down on their feathers. 



9. Phalaropus fulicarius. Grey Phalarope. 



I obtained an example of this species, a female, near our 

 winter-quarters (lat. 82° 27' N.) on the 30th June 1876; and 

 during the month of July I observed a pair on a small fresh- 

 water pond in lat. 82° 30' N. ; they were apparently breeding. 

 The female of this species is larger and brighter-coloured than 

 the male bird. Several other examples were observed in the 

 neighbourhood of our winter-quarters by various members 

 of the expedition. 



