182 ALASKA. 



'' Tbougb miicb more abnndautthan the preceding, at certain 

 times, I am satisfied that the red pbalarope does uot breed here. 

 It is foimd, like the other, by the marshy margins of the lake- 

 lets, solitary or paired, but never in flocks. The earliest arrivals 

 occur in June, but the birds re-appear in greatest number about 

 the loth of August. They all leave by the 5th of October." 



42G his. Triiig'a crassirosti'is, Temji. et Schlegel. — Thick-hilled Sand- 

 piper. " Ko-lits-kie." 

 Trincja crassirostris, Temm. et Schlegel, Fauna Japonica, 107, 

 pi. 64, (1846.) (?)— Call. Amer. Naturalist, \u, 635, (Oct., 

 1873.)— COUES. Check-List, 85, No. 426 his, (1873.) 



The most interesting result, in some respects, of Mr. Elliott's 

 ornithological researches is the determination of the occur- 

 rence of this species in abundance on the Prybilov Islands^ 

 where it breeds. This discovery adds a species, previously un- 

 recognized as Xorth American, to our Fauna. The announce- 

 ment was lately made by Mr. W. H. Dall, as above, upon the 

 strength of one of Mr. Elliott's earlier specimens from Saint 

 Paul's. This example was identified by 3Ir. J. E. Harting,* of 

 London, well known for the extent and accuracy of his investi- 

 gations of the Limicoline groups, to whom it was transmitted 

 for the purpose by the Smithsonian Institution. Mr. Elliott's 

 later collections contain numerous specimens, among them sev- 

 eral newly-hatched young, hitherto probably unknown. No 

 description of the species having been published in this country^ 

 we subjoin the following : 



Adult, in hreedingplumagc. (Xo. 04240, :\Ius. S. I.— 676, Coll. 

 H. W. E.— July 22, 1873. Saint. George's.)— With somewhat 

 the general appearance of a Tringa aljnna, but the black area on 

 the under parts pectoral, not abdominal. Bill about as long as^ 

 the head, straight to the end,t compressed, stout, and high at 



* Deferring to this excellent authority' ou Limicoline birds, and without 

 a cop}' of the work in which Tringa crassirostris was originally described, 

 at hand, we have presented it under the same name. But almost cer- 

 tainly it is )tot the bird described by Schlegel as Tringa crassirostris in the 

 Museum des Pay.s-Bas. The characters there given are those of a different 

 bird altogether. By no latitude of interpretation can they be rendered 

 applicable to the present species. In case our bird, here described in de- 

 tail, be found uot the saijie as the true Tringa crassirostris, it may appro- 

 priately be named T. ptilooicmis, in allusion to the feathered tibiie. We 

 consider it most nearly allied to Tringa maritima, next to which it may 

 take its place in the system. 



tin other specimens, and usually, the bill isc onsiderably longer, exceed- 

 ing the head, and dccidedlv decurved at the end. 



