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214 



PR.lTOCIAI, (iltAI.LATOllES — LIMICOL.E. 



lS5.'i. On the L'Stli of .Inly. 1M7.">. Dr. Copijingi-r riiiiu' acrcss a party of six birds, 

 si'vonil mill's inland from F(nt Fonlkc Tlicy wcrt' ffcdin.n- near a rill, and Avoro very 

 wild; Imt hi' si'cured a male in the fnll lirci'din^'-iiliimat,'!'. An^Mist iT). lH~i>, Mr. 

 I"'eildi'n observod si'vcral of tlu'sc birds near tin' water's I'dp' in Discovery Hay (lat. 

 HV 44' N.). The rills and marshes wort' frozen, and the birds were feeding' alonj? the 

 shore on small ernstaceans; in pnrsnit of their prey tiu'y ran breast hi,y:h into tlu^ 

 water. They had h>st their lireedin,i,f-plnniai;('. On -lane ."». 1S7(). while camped near 

 Knot Harbor. (Jrinnell Land (lat. Ml!° ;>;{' >,'.), he noted the tirst arrival of this species. 

 A tloek of fonrteen or more were circling;' over a hillside, ali.uhtini,' on bare patches, 

 and feeding' eaj:;erly on the buds of the .s7m// ''",'/". Snlisecpiently he nu't with it in 

 considerable nnnd»ers. but always wild and dithenit of approach. Their cry was wihl, 

 and like that of the Curlew. Inuuediately after their arrival they befj;an to mate, at 

 this season soarin.u; liijih in the air like the Common Snijie. When descendiiifi; from a 

 height they beat their wint;s liehind the back witli a rapiil motion, prodncinj,' a loud 

 whirring noise. On the odth of .Inly, iSTli, three of the .seamen, walking by the bor- 

 der of a small lake, came upon an old bird accompanied by three nestlings. The old 

 bird })roved to be a male. Its stomach and those of the yimng ones were tilled witli 

 insects. ])r. Coii])inger informed Mr. I'eilden that the bird was not luicommon at 

 Thank-(iod Harboi. and in the first week in An jn.st the latter .saw family ])arties at 

 Shift-Kudder I'.ay (lat. Si" oL'' X.) in the grty autumn ])lumage. It also bred in the 

 vicinity of Discovery I>ay ; but no eggs were found there, although the young were 

 obtained in all stages of plumage. 



On the Anu'ricau coast this bird occurs, in its migrations, in nu)st of the Atlantic 

 States, and in the winter in the West Indies, and jiroljably on the (iulf coast of Mex- 

 ico. It breeds in the high Arctic Regions, in the northeastern portions. Sir Edward 

 Parry, in his tirst voyage, found it breeding in great abundance on the North Georgian 

 Islands; and on his second voyage a single sjiecinien — a young male of the season — 

 was shot on the 17th of August in the Duke of York's May. Sir .lohn Kichardson 

 also mentions that this species w;vs observed breeding on Mtdville Peninsula by Ca]i- 

 tain Lyon.y. w'>o stated that this l)ird lays four eggs on a tuft of withered grass, 

 without being fit the pains of forming any nest. In the '• I'auna I'loreali-Anu'ricana" 

 the sanu' writer adds that this bird breeds in Hudson's i>ay, and down to the tifty- 

 lifth ])arallel. He describes the eggs as having a light yellowish ground, marked at 

 the larger end with spots of gr;iy and reddish, which form, in a. greater or less 

 degree, a zone; but the smaller end is nearly uns])otted. 



Specimens of this Wader were procured at Nuhvto. in ^lay. by Mr. Pease, at Sitka 

 by Mr. Bischoff, and at St. Michael's by ^Ir. Hannister. and also at LTnalaklik by Mr. 

 Potter. 



Mr. Roardman informs us that it occurs in small Hocks in the neighborhood of 

 Calais, M' ., but is never very abundant there, being seen only in the spring and 

 fall migrations, and none remaining to breed. It is known there as the Kobin Snipe, 

 In Massachusetts this bird is regarded by sonu» hunters as h;iving become less abun- 

 dant than it was formerly known to 1k'. Mr. A\'illiam Brewster has met with it in 

 the spring in small flocks of five or six ; this was late in ^lay. and it was then rather 

 abundant. It comes regularly in the fall about the middle of August, and thence to 

 the 1st of Sejitember. 



Mr. Frank H. Tileston, however, informs me that these birds arrive in Parnstable 

 County, Mass., in their ndgrations northward, with great jtunctuality, about the L'Oth 

 of May. They still come in large flocks every year, but rarely stay more than a day 

 or two, passing immediately northward. At Eastham, May 20. 187.'>. he noted their 



