BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER. 



ScOLOPACID^.] 



LIMICOLA PLATYRHYNCHA (Temminck). 



Explanation of Plate. 



Figure 1. Lapland, June 17, 1886. -v 



„ 2. Ditto. June 13, 1890. / , „ • „ .. , 



T-..L.. T or loo^ > In collection of H. Massey, Esq. 



„ 3. Ditto. June 25, 1887. i j> ^ 



„ 4. Tornea Lappmark, June 26, 1 888. ^ 



„ 5. Muonioniska, East Bothnia ; Knoblock coll. In collection of E. Bidwell, Esq. 



The Broad-billed Sandpiper is a rare accidental visitor to England and 

 Ireland, there being no record from Scotland. 



Eespecting the geographical distribution of the Broad-billed Sandpiper 

 Mr. Howard Saunders writes as follows * : — " It is evident that our islands lie 

 outside the ordinary route taken by this species ; yet it breeds no further off than 

 the fells of Scandinavia, and visits the coasts and inland waters of Denmark, 

 Germany, France, and Switzerland. As yet it has not been noticed in the 

 Spanish Peninsula, but in Italy its occurrences, though irregular, are not 

 unfrequent, large flocks — which have probably made use of the Brenner Pass — 

 sometimes alighting in the marshes of Venetia. From Finland and the tundras 

 of European Eussia, where it also nests, a more easterly line of flight brings it to 

 the Black Sea and the Aralo-Caspian region, while it is found during winter in 

 some parts of the Mediterranean basin, including the shores of North Africa as 

 far as Egypt. Strange to say, it has not been met Avith by any explorers in the 

 Arctic portions of Asiatic Siberia, but Severtzoff obtained a specimen on the 

 Pamir, and the bird is common in winter on the coast of Sind. It occiurs ao-ain 

 on Lake Baikal, and commonly on the Sea of Okhotsk, visiting Japan, China, 

 the Philippines, Burma, and Eastern India ; while, after another great gap in its 

 distribution, we find it at Madagascar, of course during the cold season." 



The following valuable notes on the nidification of this species were 



* ' Manual of British Birds,' pp. 563, 564. 



