86 CRUISE OF STEAMER CORWI>f JN THE AHCTIC OCEAX. 



maritima in lU'iiii^' Sea and Uw adjoininj;- ivj;ioiis rcfor to tlir incscnt bird, with an ocrasioual 

 reference to the following species when speaking of the Seal Islands. This species, couesi, winters 

 on the Alentian Islands as well as along the shores of the mainland in the Sitkan region and 

 south. 



ARQUATELLA PTILOCNEMIS iCouesi Ridgw. 



(91.) The Pkiuvluv 8.\nd Piper. 



This curions Snipe is limited in sninnicr to the Knr Seal Islands, and thence extends north 

 to Saint Matthew's and to Saint Lawrence Islands, the tirst and only record of its occurrence on 

 the latter island being a pair ol)served by ns on the sonthern shore .June 24, ISSI, when we landed 

 from the Corwin during a gale. The male was seen keeping close to the native huts, and was 

 very unsuspicious, allowing us to ai)proach within a few paces ; he kept rising on vibrating 

 wings in the face of the tierce wind blowing over the summit of the hill on which we found him, 

 and uttering a sharp, metallic, trilling note, much louder and harder than the somewhat similar 

 note of Trin<i<t Hcmiimlmata. 



Thus far, although this bird is known to be a migrant, leaving its summer home on the 

 islands mentioned at the approach of winter, its habitat during the cold season is unknown. 

 Whether it is confined to the southern shore of the Aleutian chain or passes to'sonie portion of 

 the American or Asiatic coast yet remains to ha ascertained. 



ACTODROMAS ACUMINATA i Horsf. 1 Ridgw. 



(!).">.) The Siiakp Tailed Sand Piper. 



The first knowle<lge of tliis bird's occurrence on the coast of America was obtained by me at 

 Saint Michael's, where it is an abundant species every autumn, coming during August and 

 remaining until the sharp frosts of the api)roaching winter cause it to hasten away. Following 

 my capture of the sjjecies comes its cajjture on the coast of Kotzebue Sound, at Hotham Iidet, the 

 1st of September, 1880, by Captain Hooper, on the Corwin, during his first cruise in the Arctic; 

 and on the 9th of Septemlier the same season Dr. Bean, on the Coast Survey schooner Yukon, 

 secure<l a second specnmen at Port Clarence, Bering Strait, and this concludes our i)resent 

 knowledge of the distribution of the species on the American coast. During the summer of 1881, 

 on the 1st of August, we landed from the Corwin on the northeast coast of Siberia, in the vicinity 

 of Cape Waukarem, aud found these birds numerous, feeding on the tiats which were closely 

 bordering the shores of the AVctic Ocean ami sparingly grown up with fine grass. From the 

 actions of the birds at this time it was evident that they had nested in the vicinity, and this region 

 is probably the true summer home of this handsome species. During the migration it has been 

 taken in .Tapan and along the east coast of Asia, and is known to winter in Australia and Southern 

 India. 



ACTODROMAS MACULATA (Vieill.) Coues. 



(!)().) The Pectoral Sand Piper. 



On the American co.ist of Bering Si'a, as also at Kotzebue Sound, this bird is a comnujn if 

 not abundant sumnu!r resident. It is perhaps most numerous about the Yukon mouth, where it 

 was preparing to breed in considerable numbers early in June. 1879. It is unknown from any of 

 the Bering Sea islands, but on the north coast of Siberia, during the summer of 1881, we found 

 them numerous in company with the Sharp Tailed Sand Piper. At several jwints where we 

 landed it was found wherever grassy tiats occur aftording it proi)er feeding grounds. In a recent 

 letter to the New York Herald, received from Mr. K. L. Newcomb, the Naturalist of the Jeannette, 

 we learn that on the 18th of August, 1889, while their vessel was frozen in the ice to the northwest 

 of VVrangel Island, a pair of these birds canu^ on board. This extends their known range north to 

 about 7(i° of latitude, aud renders it probable that they breed on the islands of the Arctic Ocean 

 in this region. 



