510 THE BIRDS OF HELIGOLAND 



301. Buff-breasted Sandpiper [ROSTGELBEE STRANDLAUFER]. 

 TRINGA RUFESCENS, Vieillot. 1 



Actitis rufescens. Naumann, xiii. ; Blasius, Nachtrdge, 239. 



Buff-breasted Sandpiper. Dresser, viii. in. 



Becasseau rousset. Temminck, Manuel, ii. 624, iv. 407. 



The occurrence of the only example of this rare American 

 bird ever killed or observed on the island dates back to the 9th 

 of May 1847. This fine example was shot on a grass plot on the 

 Upper Plateau by Glaus Aeuckens, who, though at that time hardly 

 emerged from the stage of a blowpipe sportsman, was nevertheless 

 well acquainted with all the usual occurrences of bird-life. 



Strange to say, the bird was in the company of another Sandpiper 

 quite unknown to Aeuckens, but which, from his description, could 

 be no other than the American Spotted Sandpiper (Totanus macu- 

 larius). Unfortunately, as Aeuckens, like most of the gunners of 

 those days, was only very inadequately provided in the way of fire- 

 arms, having but a poor single-loading musket, he did not succeed 

 in shooting the bird ; the latter, indeed, followed Aeuckens' imitated 

 call-note, and kept soaring repeatedly quite low over him, so that he 

 could quite clearly distinguish its roundish black spots, in form 

 ' like the smallest spots on the underside of the Missel Thrush ' 

 but it had flown away before he had got his gun loaded for a second 

 shot. 



This simultaneous occurrence of two shore-birds from the east 

 coast of North America need however create no more surprise than 

 the frequently noted appearance of several individuals belonging to 

 entirely different species whose home is in the far east of Asia ; 

 indeed, the latter have set out on their journey hither from a dis- 

 trict which is at least half again as far from Heligoland as the 

 home of these visitors from the Atlantic coasts of North America. 

 This exclusively American species breeds in the high northern 

 regions of that continent, and during the winter months extends 

 its migrations far down into South America. Beyond the British 

 Islands where, according to Harting (Handbook of British Birds), 

 it has occurred sixteen ^times the instances of its occurrence in 

 Europe are extremely rare and isolated. 



Phalarope Phalaropus. This genus only contains three 

 species, two of which belong to the Arctic coasts of the Old 

 and New World, while the third is limited to the far north 



Tryngites rufescens ( Vieill. ). 



