130 BRITISH BIRDS. 



TOTANUS SOLITARIUS. 

 SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



Tringa solitaria, Wilson, Am. Orn. vii. p. 53, pi. 58. fig. 3 (1813) ; et auctorum 

 plurimorum (Audubori), (Baird, Brewer, fy Ridgioay}, (Coues), &c. 



Tetanus chloropygius, Vieill. N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. vi. p. 401 (1816). 



Totanus caligatus, Licht. Verz. Doubl. p. 74 (1823). 



Tringa macroptera, Spix, Ac. Bras. ii. p. 76 (1825). 



Rkyacophilus chloropygius ( Vieill.), Bonap. Compt. Rend, xliii. p. 597 (1856). 



Khyacophilus solitarius ( Wilson), Baird, Cassin, Sf Lawrence, B. N. Amer. p. 733 

 (1860). 



Pennant was acquainted with the Solitary Sandpiper, but did not 

 discriminate between it and the Green Sandpiper. Latham attempted 

 to diagnose the two forms, and timidly raised the American species to the 

 rank of a variety of the European bird. Wilson saw at once that the 

 differences were specific, and described the Solitary Sandpiper as a new 

 species. There can be no question that the Solitary Sandpiper is speci- 

 fically distinct from the Green Sandpiper, of which it is the representative 

 on the American continent. 



An example of the Solitary Sandpiper is said to have occurred in 

 Scotland (Gray, ' Ibis/ 1870, p. 292) . The author of the < Birds of the West 

 of Scotland ' writes that a Green-rumped Tatler, or Solitary Sandpiper, 

 " was shot some years ago by the late William Gordon, of Airdrie, some- 

 where on the banks of the Clyde, in the higher grounds of Lanarkshire." 

 This statement is somewhat vague and unsatisfactory; but a second 

 example having been obtained at Scilly, the Solitary Sandpiper may fairly 

 claim to be admitted into the British list as a rare accidental visitor. 

 This example is in the collection of Mr. Dorrien Smith, of Tresco, Scilly 

 (Cornish, ' Zoologist/ 1882, p. 432), and was shot on the 21st of September, 

 1882. In the record of its capture it is stated that the upper tail-coverts 

 were not white; and in a subsequent communication to Mr. Saunders, 

 Mr. Cornish mentions that the example was identified from Wilson's 

 plate, which is a very good one. 



The Solitary Sandpiper is found during the breeding-season on the 

 American continent as far south as lat. 44, and northwards up to the 

 limit of forest-growth, which in the west extends beyond the Arctic circle, 

 but in the east not nearly so far north. On migration it passes through 

 most of the United States, though many cross the ocean by way of the 

 Bermudas, whence it may easily be carried to our coasts by storms or 

 contrary winds. In Mexico, Central America, Trinidad, and the West 

 Indies it probably only occurs on migration ; but it winters in South 

 America in Brazil and Peru. 



