2 SCOLOPACID^. 



Barrow in Alaska, when, in 1882 and 1883, eighteen sets of eggs were obtained, 

 each complete clutch consisting of 4." 



Mr. John Murdoch, who was stationed at Point Barrow, Alaska, from 1881 

 to 1883, gives the following interesting account of the breeding habits of the 

 Pectoral Sandpiper * : — 



" Though this species is very common over the whole continent, and in fact 

 over the greater part of the world, its eggs and breeding habits have hitherto been 

 undescribed f . We had the good fortune to find them breeding in considerable 

 abundance in the neighboiu'hood of the station, and were able to bring home a 

 good series of authentic eggs. 



" It is one of the commonest of our waders, occvirring all over the tundra in 

 all sorts of situations, though never found on the beach. 



" There is frequently a great disparity of size between the two sexes. A 

 comparison of the large series we collected shows that the average length of the 

 female is about three-quarters of an inch less than that of the male, but that the 

 smallest adult female Avas fully an inch and a half shorter than the largest male. 

 The difierence in size is so marked that the natives noticed it and insisted that 

 the small females were not Aibtvukia, but NiwUiwiluk [Ereunetes pusillus). 



" They arrive about the end of May or early in June, and frequent the small 

 ponds and marshy portions of the tundra along the shore, sometimes associated 

 with other small waders, especially with the Buff-breasted Sandpipers on the high 

 banks of Nunava. Early in the season they are frequently in large-sized flocks 

 feeding together around and in the Eskimo village at Cape Smythe, but later 

 become thoroughly scattered all over the tundra. 



" They begin pairing soon after their arrival, and are frequently to be seen 

 chasing each other in the air with a loud chatter. The male has a curious habit 

 at this season of the year. The skin of the throat is much distended and loaded 

 with slimy fat, and can be puffed out like the throat of a pouter pigeon. During 



* 'Eeport of the Interuational Polar Expedition to Point Barrow, Alaska: Birds,' by John 

 Murdoch, pp. Ill, 112. 



t To this statement Mr. Murdoch adds the following explanatory note : — " Since the above was 

 written, Mr. E. W. Nelson, formerly United States Signal Service observer at Saint Michael's, Alaska, 

 has published (' Auk,' vol. i. no. 3, pp. 218-224) an excellent detailed account of the breeding habits of 

 this species, as observed by him in the delta of the Yukon. His observations agree very closely with 

 ours, except that he observed the male bird ' hooting ' while on the ground. The observations of 

 Dr. Adams, quoted by Mr. Nelson, had escaped my notice as well as his. The note, however, merely 

 states that drawings made by Dr. Adams, and representing the male bird with his throat puffed out, 

 were exhibited at a meeting of the Zoological Society, so that to Mr. Nelson belongs the credit of first 

 making and publishing complete observations on the subject." 



