SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER. 



SCOLOPACID^.] 



TRINGA ACUMINATA (Horsfield). 



An example of the Sharp-tailed, or Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper was shot at 

 Breydon, Norfolk, on August 29th, 1892 ; another is said, on less certain evidence, 

 to have been obtained in the same county in 1848. These are the only British 

 records. The esrors of this bird are unknown. 



"OO'- 



Dr. p. L. Sclater, after mentioning the principal references in ornithological 

 literature to this species, summarizes its geographical distribution as follows * : — 

 " From this list it will be evident that the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper is widely 

 distributed over the eastern part of the Palsearctic region, and visits the North 

 Pacific Islands and Alaska during the autumn migration. In winter it passes far 

 south over the Sunda Islands and the Pelew Islands to New Guinea, New Ireland, 

 Australia, the Friendly Islands, and New Zealand." 



The late Mr. H. Seebohm writes : — " The egg of the Siberian Pectoral Sand- 

 piper is unknown, but there can be no doubt that the bird breeds in Siberia." f 



Mr. E. W. Nelson observed the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper at St. Michaels, 

 Alaska, and also on the coast of Siberia, near the North Cape, where he considers 

 it probably breeds. He gives the following details respecting its habits J : — " On 

 September 16, 1877, near Saint Michaels, I had the pleasure of securing a 

 handsome young female of this bird, thus adding the species to oiu: fauna. The 

 bird was shot on the muddy bank of a tide-creek as I was passing in a kyak. 

 Later in the season others were seen, and during each of the three succeeding 

 autumns they were found to be one of the most common species of Snipe about 

 Saint Michaels, frequenting the borders of brackish pools and tide-creeks, in 

 company with T. maculata, the Red-breasted Snipe, and several other species. 



" They were nearly always associated with maculata, whose habits they 

 shared to a great extent. When congregated about their feeding places, they 

 united into flocks of from ten to fifty, but single birds were frequently flushed 



* ' Ibis,' 1893, p. 185. t Tom. cit. p. 183. 



J ' Eeport upon Natural History Collections made in Alaska between the years 1877 and 1881 ' 

 (Washington, 1887), pp. 106, 107. 



