CURLEW SANDPIPER. 181 



eggs, is utterly worthless without the evidence of the capture of tlie parent 

 birds, which, no doubt, were Dunlins. 



The Curlew Sandpiper is supposed to breed in the Arctic regions of 

 Europe and Asia, from Lapland to Behring's Straits, tliough authentic eggs 

 have never been obtained *. It is doubtfully recorded from Iceland and 

 Greenland ; but inasmuch as it occurs as an accidental straggler on the 

 Atlantic coast of North America, it is most probable that these records are 

 true. Both Henke and Harvie- Brown obtained it in summer at Archanircl : 

 I found it both in the valleys of the Petchora and the Yenesay. Midden- 

 dorff obtained it on thcTaimur peninsula ; and it was observed by the ' Vega ' 

 Expedition near Behring's Straits. On migration it passes along the 

 European coasts, the great inland lines of migration, and along the coasts 

 of China, but it has not been recorded from Kamtschatka or Japan. A 

 few remain to winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, but the majority 

 pass on to Africa, throughout which continent they are found in suitable 

 localities. It also winters on the Mekran coast, in India, Ceylon, the 

 Andaman Islands, Burma, the islands of the Malay archipelago, and 

 Australia. The Curlew Sandpiper appears to have no ally nearer than the 

 Knott. 



Towards the end of April vast numbers of Curlew Sandpipers pass 

 Gibraltar on their way north to their still unknown breeding-places. 

 These little travellers journey in small parties of from ten to twenty 

 individuals, sometimes consorting with Dunlins and Knots. In the east of 

 Europe the migration begins about the same time as in the west, and lasts 

 as long, generally extending to the end of May. Curlew Sandpipers 

 appear on the British coasts in April, but the greater part do not arrive 

 until May, and are even seen as late as the beginning of June. They 

 spend a short northern summer on the Arctic tundras, and reappear, much 

 commoner than in spring, for the most part young birds, on the British 

 coast in August and September, remaining until October. 



* The statement made in ' The Ibis ' by Dr. Finsch, that he obtained the young in 

 down of the Curlew Sandpiper on the Yalmal peninsula was contradicted in the book 

 which he afterwards published, the Tmiga subarquuta of the former beino- altered to 

 TriiKja alpina in the latter. The statement of Mr. Kumlien (quoted by Messrs. Baird 

 Brewer, and Ilidgway), that he obtained eggs of the Curlew Sandpiper from North Green- 

 land, proves to be equally unfortimate, as Mr. Eidgway informs me that the eggs pro- 

 cured by Governor Fencker were those of the Purple Sandpiper. 



t In consequence of the decurved bill, this species has been placed by manv ornitholo- 

 gists in a different genus to that which contains the Knot. Baird, Brewer, and Iiid"-way 

 associate it with the Dunlin under the genus Pelidna ; but few persons who will take the 

 trouble to compare the somewhat complicated changes of plumao-e which the Curlew 

 Sandpiper and the Knot undergo, and contrast these with the entirely dilierent chano-es 

 through which the Dunlin passes, will avoid coming to the conclusion that in this case, at 

 least, the colours of the plumage are of much greater generic value than the shape of 

 the bill. 



