508 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



Probably few birds are so widely distributed as the Turnstone. 

 Its breeding haunts extend from Greenland, Iceland, and the coasts 

 of Scandinavia and Finland, along the whole of northern Asia, and 

 through all the littoral area and islands of northern America. 

 Captain Feilden has met with it in Smith's Sound, in 82 

 30' N. lat. ; and Alfred Newton has found it on Spitzbergen. Its- 

 winter range extends, on the one side of the Atlantic, to the 

 southern coast-regions of South America, and on the other to 

 South Africa, and also to Australia and New Zealand. 



299. Broad -billed Sandpiper [PLATTSCHNABLIGEH 



STRANDLAUFER]. 

 TRINGA PLATYRHYNCHA, Temminck. 1 



Limicola pygmcea. Naumann, viii. 271. 



Broad-billed Sandpiper. Dresser, viii. i. 



Becasseau platyrhyngue. Temminck, Manuel, ii. 616, iv. 403. 



On the afternoon of the 29th of May 1855, as I was walking 

 along the edge of the cliff, a densely crowded flock of fifteen small 

 birds suddenly, amid much piping and chirping, flew from the sea 

 close past me to the grassy plain of the Upper Plateau. Thinking 

 that they belonged to Tringa minuta, I quickly imitated the call- 

 note of that species, whereupon the birds, after circling round me 

 in a curve, settled on the grass some forty paces oft', and at once 

 commenced running hurriedly backwards and forwards. Although 

 the turf was very uneven, I succeeded, by seizing a favourable 

 moment, in killing five of them at one shot. I have stated already 

 that T. minuta counts in spring amongst our greatest rarities ; and 

 at the time in question I had as yet no example of this species in 

 iny collection. Overjoyed at my success, I rushed hastily towards 

 my spoil, when to my utmost surprise I recognised in the five 

 birds before me examples of the Broad-billed Sandpiper, a species 

 which up to that time had been neither seen nor killed here, 

 and therefore was something quite new to me. I shot other 

 two of the same flight, and a day afterwards obtained four 

 more : these probably also belonged to the same company, for 

 although another strong migration took place on the 30th, we 

 can hardly suppose that two such great rarities would occur on two 

 successive days. However, Hirundo rufula, which was also new to 

 Heligoland, occurred among the hundreds and thousands of Swallows 

 which arrived on the island on this same 30th of May, of which 

 enormous quantities subsequently perished from hunger and cold 



1 Limicola platyrhyncha (Ternirl. ). 



