304 CHARADRIIDAi 
almost unknown until July 3rd, 1897, when Mr. H. L. 
Popham obtained a nest with four eggs near the mouth of 
the River Yenesei. The eges were identified as the female 
was shot on her nest. ‘This nest ‘‘ was a rather deep hollow 
in a ridge of the Tundra; the four eggs resemble some of 
those of the Common Snipe, though smaller” (Saunders). 
Dr. Walter, in his researches on the Taimyr Peninsula, 
; : E 1} 
noted that this species “‘ arrived on the ae and nested 
numerously in the district. Harly in June they chased 
each other in threes and fours over the Tundra. The 
nests were placed in grassy places, and consisted of shallow 
depressions lined with a few dry straws and a white 
tangle. In the middle of June the nests contained full 
clutches of eggs. On the approach of a person the sitting 
bird, warned by its mate, leaves the nest quickly, and both 
birds remain very passive and unobtrusive. Usually the 
observer has to wait long before the female decides to return 
to her nest and thus betray its position, and often he has to 
wait in vain. Some individuals of this species also wander 
about in small flocks during the breeding-season, while later 
both old and young collect in large flocks and remain until 
late in the autumn.” 
The eggs were “ Blunt pyriform, fine grained with a 
faint gloss. Ground-colour pale yellowish-white with a 
ereenish tinge, with large and small brown to blackish- 
brown spots, which are more confluent, and to some extent 
quite confluent at the thick end, and a few washed-out pale 
violet-grey spots.” Average measurements ranged from 34°6 
by 25°1 mm. to 39°6 by 25°6 mm. (H. EH. Dresser, ‘ Ibis,’ 
1904, p. 231, from translated notes of Walter’s paper 
on ‘‘Ornithologische Beobachtungen an der westlichen 
Taimyrhalbinsel, vom September, 1900 bis August, 1901,” 
published in the ‘Annuaire du Musée Zool. de Acad. Imp. 
des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg ’). 
Geographical distribution.—F rom observations made on 
this interesting species by various Arctic travellers, it appears 
that its breeding-grounds are in Eastern Arctic Siberia 
and the adjoining Islands still further north. Its breed- 
ing-range probably extends to Behring Straits. On the 
southern migration in autumn, the birds spread far and 
wide,! visiting the European coast-lands, as far west as 
1 Tt is wonderful to think that an immature bird some three months 
old can travel such an immense distance as from Lena Delta to Australia, 
and no doubt some Curlew-Sandpipers do. 
