4 SCOLOPACID^. 



ruddy hue. All the eggs have the usual shell markings of pale purplish gray and 

 light neutral tint. 



" The eggs may be distinguished from those of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 

 which they closely resemble, by their warmer color. 



" Most of the eggs obtained were collected in 18S3. The first nest was taken 

 on June 20, a full set of eggs slightly incubated. Although eggs were found 

 to contain large embryos as early as June 28, perfectly fresh eggs were found 

 July 6, and the last eggs brought in, July 12, contained only small embryos." 



Mr. E. W. Nelson, who also met with the Pectoral Sandpiper in Alaska, 

 writes * : — 



" During my residence in the Territory, I fovmd it an extremely common bird 

 at the Yukon mouth, where the low, grassy flats afford it a much -frequented 



breeding-ground It arrives on the shores of Bering Sea, near Saint 



Michaels, from the 15th to the 25th of May; and after lingering about wet spots 

 where the green herbage just begins to show among the universal browns of the 

 tundra, they pair and seek their nesting places. It is a common but never very 

 abundant bird during both migrations near Saint Michaels, but it is rare there 

 during the breeding season. This is difficult to account for, as they are extremely 

 common at the latter period on the low, flat islands in the Yukon delta, and are 

 common also at other points on the coast. Dall found it at Plover Bay, East 

 Siberia, and I found it common on the north coast of Siberia the last of July, 

 1881, where, like the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, it was evidently upon its breeding 

 ground. They arrive on the east coast of Bering Sea before the ground is 

 entirely free from snow, and during September, in company with A. acuminata, 

 are numerous about small, brackish pools, and the banks of tide creeks. October, 

 with its frosty nights and raw, unpleasant days, soon thins their ranks until, by 

 the 10th or 12th, the last one has gone. 



" The last of May, 1879, I pitched my tent on a lonely island in the Yukon 

 delta, and passed several weeks in almost continual physical discomfort owing to 

 the cold rain and snow-storms which prevailed. However, I look back wath 

 pleasure upon the time passed here among the various water-fowl, when every day 

 contributed new and strange experiences. 



" The night of May 24 I lay wrapped in my blanket, and from the raised 

 flap of the tent looked out over as dreary a cloud-covered landscape as can be 

 imagined. The silence was unbroken save by the tinkle and clinking of the 



* 'Eeport upon Natural llistorv Colk'ctions made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881,' 

 pp. 108, 109. 



