PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 655 



soon afterwards passed into the possession of Mr. J. D. Hoy, 

 who believing it to be undescribed as a Britisli bird, had se- 

 lected it and sent it up to me for inspection. Mr. Audubon 

 being then in London I exhibited the bird to him, as a good 

 authority for American species, and he immediately confirmed 

 the previous notion that the bird was an example of the 

 Tringa pectoral is of America. 



Since the occurrence of Mr. Hoy's specimen, another ex- 

 ample of the Pectoral Sandpiper has been obtained in this 

 country, and a third bird seen. D. W. Mitchell, Esq. of 

 Penzance sent me in June 3 840 a coloured draAving of the 

 natural size, and a fully detailed description, with measure- 

 ments, of a Sandpiper, shot by himself on the S7th of the 

 previous month, while the bird was resting on some sea-weed 

 within a few yards of the water, on the rocky shore of Annet, 

 one of the uninhabited islands at Scilly. On the following 

 day another example was seen, but became so wild after an 

 unsuccessful shot, that it took off" to another island and 

 escaped altogether. The close accordance of the specimen 

 obtained with the description ol Tringa pecioralis in summer 

 plumage in the Fourth Part of M. Temminck's Manual, led 

 Mr. Mitchell to a true conclusion as to the species and its 

 novelty and interest in this country. 



This Sandpiper was also unknown to Wilson, and we must 

 be indebted to later authorities for our knowledge of its 

 habits. Mr. Nuttall says, " This conspicuous species of 

 Sandpiper, first detected by Mr. Say, is by no means un- 

 common in various parts of the United States ; migrating 

 north, and perhaps west, to breed, as they are common in 

 the remote plains of the Mississippi, and retire at the ap- 

 proach of winter to the southern limits of the Union, being 

 met with at this season also in the West Indies. According 

 to d'Azara and C. L. Bonaparte, they are found even in 

 Brazil and at Montevideo. Thev are killed in abundance on 



