578 CURLEW-SANDPIPER. 



being very rare in spring. It occurs near Archangel, and Mr. See- 

 bohm shot a female on July 15th at the mouth of the Petchora out 

 of a small flock, while on the Yenesei, much further east, he killed 

 a bird in nuptial dress close to the Arctic circle on June 15th ; but 

 he did not reach its nesting-ground, and Dr. Finsch's statement 

 that he had found the downy young on the Yalmal Peninsula 

 was afterwards corrected. Dr. von Middendorff was nearly suc- 

 cessful, for he observed the bird dispersed over the tundras of the 

 Taimyr in lat. 74° N. in June, and secured a female with a partially- 

 shelled egg in her oviduct ; Dr. Bunge noticed migrants passing 

 over the Lena delta, probably on their way to the Liakov Islands ; 

 the ' Vega ' expedition obtained a specimen close to Bering Strait on 

 June 6th 1879 5 ^"^ ^Y ^ strange coincidence Mr. J. Murdoch pro- 

 cured the first Alaskan example at Point Barrow on June 6th 1883. 

 With this exception, the species is unknown in Arctic America, 

 while it is of rare occurrence on the Atlantic sea-board of the 

 United States. Returning to Europe, we find the Curlew-Sandpiper 

 as a migrant on all the coasts and along several valley-routes, dis- 

 playing its richest red plumage on the spring passage through the 

 basin of the Mediterranean. In winter it is found down to Cape 

 Colony and Tasmania, and all over the Indian region, the mountain- 

 ranges of Central Asia offering no barrier to its progress. 



This bird is generally found in small flocks on sand-banks, 

 ooze and salt-marshes, occasionally associating with other members 

 of the family, though as a rule it keeps somewhat apart. Col. 

 Legge observed that it does not run about as much as its smaller 

 relatives, and feeds more after the manner of a Sandpiper than 

 of a Stint. Its flight is very strong, especially down wind, the 

 white rump being then conspicuous. The note is somewhat louder 

 than that of the Dunlin ; the food consists of aquatic insects, small 

 crustaceans, and worms. 



The adult in summer-plumage has the head, neck and mantle 

 chestnut, streaked and barred with black and grey; upper tail-coverts 

 white tinged with buff, and broadly barred with black ; quills and 

 tail-feathers ash-grey ; under parts chestnut-red, slightly barred with 

 dark brown and grey on the abdomen and flanks. After the autumn 

 moult the rufous colour is lost, and the under parts become white. 

 Length 8*5 in., wing 5 in. ; females being rather larger than males. 

 The young bird (figured in the foreground) has the upper feathers 

 margined with buff; tail-coverts white; throat and upper breast 

 tinged with buff, and streaked with pale brown ; remaining under 

 parts white ; bill at first shorter and less decurved than in the adult. 



