228 THE BIRDS OF SUSSEX. 



except one scapular feather and a small patch on the occiput. 

 In many parts of the Continent it frequents the coast and 

 inland waters. According to Yarrell (vol. iii. p. 365), Mr. 

 Dann was the first discoverer of its breeding-places in Nor- 

 way and Lapland, where it forms its nest on dry hummocks 

 in the most inaccessible bogs. On its first appearance it is 

 wild and shy, and, on being disturbed, it soars to a great 

 height, rising and falling suddenly like the Snipe, and utter- 

 ing the notes '' two-woo,^' rapidly repeated ; but, as the 

 weather becomes warm, it changes its habits, and is then very 

 difficult to flush, and when it rises only flies a short distance 

 and drops again. In the stomach little has been found save 

 small insects and larvae. 



PECTORAL SANDPIPER 



Tringa maculata. 



This Sandpiper has but rarely been met with in England, 

 being an accidental visitant from N. America, where under 

 the names of '^ Meadow Snipe ^^ and ''Grass Snipe ^' it is, 

 according to Yarrell, generally distributed from Hudson's 

 Bay to Alaska, in winter, and is supposed to breed in the 

 Arctic Regions, but the egg is yet unknown. It is abundant 

 in summer, in Labrador, frequenting low muddy flats. Its 

 habits resemble those of the Common Snipe. It feeds on 

 insects, small seeds, and Crustacea. In Sussex the only 

 occurrence is that recorded by Mr. Harting in his ' Hand- 

 book of British Birds,' p. 141, as having been obtained at 

 Eastbourne, in September 1870. 



