OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 263 



Eay's expedition to Point Barrow in Alaska in 1882 83. The birds were 

 observed to arrive at their nesting places on the Arctic tundras or barren grounds 

 at the end of May, and early in June they began to pair. The nest is stated to 

 be always placed amongst the grass in a dry part of the tundra. The nest has 

 not been described minutely, but the eggs are four in number. These vary in 

 ground-colour from pale olive-brown to pale buff, blotched and spotted with rich 

 reddish-brown, and with underlying markings of grey. They are pyriform in 

 shape, and measure on an average 1'5 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. One 

 brood only is reared in the year, and as soon as the young are fledged they begin 

 to congregrate into parties for migration, but some of the old birds linger and 

 skulk until they have completed their moult, before starting south. 



Diagnostic characters. Heteropygia, with the rump and upper tail 

 coverts blackish ; with little or no white on the secondaries, and with the central 

 rectrices "25 inch longer than the next ; by the greater amount of brown on the 

 throat and chest, streaked with dark brown. Length, 8| inches. 



