S COLO PA CI D.I-:. 



597 



THE SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



TOTANUS SOLITARIUS (WilsOll). 



A specimen of this American species was recorded by Gray in 

 ' Tiie Ibis ' for 1S70 (p. 292), as having been killed some years pre- 

 viously on the banks of the Clyde. In 'The Zoologist' for 1882 

 (p. 432), Mr. T. Cornish stated that on September 21st of that year, 

 an example, now in the collection of Mr. Dorrien Smith, was shot in 

 the Scilly Islands ; and he subsequently identified another (Zool. 

 1885, p. 113) which was obtained in a marsh near Marazion in 

 Cornwall — according to the sale-catalogue of Mr. Vingoe's collec- 

 tion, in October 1SS4. These have been identified by competent 

 authorities, and the Solitary Sandpiper must therefore be included 

 among the occasional wanderers to Great Britain, though an illus- 

 tration of it is not considered necessary, inasmuch as its distinc- 

 tive characteristics could not be shown therein. 



In America the ' AA'ood-Tattler,' as it is often called, appears to 

 be generally distributed during the breeding-season from the vicinity 

 of the Arctic circle southward to about 44° N. lat., and across the 

 continent from the Atlantic to the Lower Yukon in Alaska. Many 

 ornithologists have observed it in summer, and Mr. Nelson has several 

 times taken the young when just able to fly in Illinois, yet nothing 

 is known of its nidification, for the description and dimensions given 

 by the late Dr. Brewer of an egg taken in Vermont and ascribed to 

 this species indicate a strong probability of some error. The spring 

 arrival in the United States takes place in May, while the return 

 migration begins in July in the northern districts, and even in the 

 south few individuals remain after October. On passage this bird 

 visits the Bermudas, the West Indies, Mexico and Central America, 

 but its principal winter quarters are further south, in Brazil, Paraguay 

 and the River Plate States. 



The Solitary Sandpiper is so named because it is generally found 

 alone or in pairs on its journeys, when it is not unfrequent by pools 

 and rivulets ; but for a short time after the young are hatched small 

 family parties are formed. During the summer the bird appears 

 to be partial to small ponds surrounded by dense forest, and it then 

 resorts to decayed logs for the purpose of procuring grubs, but at 



