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THE SEMI-PALMATED SANDPIPEE {Ereimetes 

 pusiUus) IN KENT. 



A New British and European Bird. 



On September 19th last I had the opportunity, throug-h 

 the kindness of Mr. Bristow, of examining- a small wader 

 which he had just received for preservation. He at first 

 thought it was a Little Stint, but on taking- it up to skin 

 he noticed the webbing- at the base of the toes and, as 

 soon as he had finished stuffing- it, he broug-ht it up to me 

 to identify. Having compared it with skins of the Little, 

 Temminck's, and American Stints, and with descriptions, 

 we made out that it was, without doubt, a specimen of the 

 American Semi-]3almated Sandpij^er {Ereunetes pusUlus) . 



It was an immature bird in autumn pkimag'e, and had 

 been shot two days previously by a shore-shooter at Jury 

 Gap in Romney Marsh, not far from the Sussex and Kent 

 boundary. 



Of the three Stints mentioned above, the present 

 specimen is most like the Little Stint {Tringa minuta) in a 

 similar stag-e of plumag-e, but is paler on the back, and the 

 edges of the long- scapular feathers are of a paler sandy- 

 white. It is also more easily distinguished from any of 

 them by its comparatively larg-er and stouter bill and the 

 characteristic webbing- between the bases of the three 

 anterior toes. 



In Eastern North America this is a widely distributed 

 species in the summer, migrating- south in the autumn 

 through the West Indian Islands to the coasts of South 

 America. So far as I have been able to ascertain this is 

 the first occurrence of this bird in Europe. As with all 

 additions to the British Avifauna it is highly desirable 

 that this bird should have been submitted for examination 

 to a meeting of the British Ornitholog-ists' Club, and the 

 record first made j^ublic throug-h the official " Bulletin," 

 and it is with g-reat regret that I have had to depart from 

 this custom in the present instance. The gentleman, in 

 whose possession the bird is at present, has declined to 

 allow it to be exhibited, and in order that the record may 

 not be lost it is here published. 



N. F. TiCEHURST. 



