«^' 



SCOLOPAC'ID.E — TIIL SNIPK FA^rII,Y — AUQI'ATKLLA. 



223 



lilackisli ; nuiMs li^ht fulvoiiH, mixed with piilf ^jntyisli, iiuirowly ami iiuliHtiiictly Htreiiked. An 

 indistinct lorul Htrijii; (tliis HoiiiutiniuH olisoletc), and aiii'iculiii's, palu j,'riiyinli lulvoiw, fiiioly and 

 imlistiiK'tly stivakt-d ; wal of tiiu head, iiu liidiii;,' a siipciriliary sliipc, and fUtire lower jMirts, 

 wliite, the juj,'iiluiii Usually (in lii],'lic;st iiluina^'c) wusIumI with (icliruceoiis, and (always?) streaked 

 witii dusky ; liruast blutclied witli dusky, the blotches usually coalesced into an inet,'ular laijjn 

 ]iiitch, i-.()Uietinies coverin;,' the whole lueast ; flanks and under tail-coverts marked sparsely with 

 very narrow shali-streaks of dusky. Inner border of tiie win;,' spotted with li},'ht },'rayish, and 

 Milder primary coverts very pale ash-i,'ray. Ailitll, irliitir plitiitmjf : Winj,'s, rump, tail-coverts, tail, 

 ,iiid jiosterior lower parts as in the summer pliima),'e. Reuminiuj,' upper parts continuous li^dit ashy 

 plunilieous (many shades lif,'hter than in .1. inuiitimit), the leathers of the hack and the scapuliiw 

 darker centrally, and with a very faint purplish j,doss in certain lij,'hts, Head li;,'ht f,'rayish, darker 

 and almost uidjrokeu on the iiileum, lij,diter ami streaked with white elsewhere, the throat white, 

 and but sparsely streaked. Ju^'ulum and breast white, irre^'ularly marked with ]iale ash-i,'ray. 



Yinuiij, jivst plumtujc : Above, very similar to the summerdress of the adult, but the win;,'-coverts 

 widely bordered with pah; buff; head and neck also very similarly colored. Juyulum pale buff, 

 distinctly marked with short streaks and su^^ittate murks of dusky gray. Downy Yoiinij: Above, 

 lirij,'ht tawny fulvous, irre^'ujarly marbled with black, the back and rump bespauHhvd with downy, 

 dot-likcMlei'ks of yellowish wliit(! ; the nape nearly uniform li;,'ht fulvous f,'rayish ; forehead pide 

 biilf, with a vi'ry narrow medial streak of black, reaching,' nearly to the bill, and e.\teudinj,' pos- 

 teriorly into the fulvous of the crown and occiput, which is irre;,'ulaily marbh-d, loiiyitudiually, 

 with black ; a narrow black loral streak reachin;,' about half way to the eye, with a still narrower 

 riitid streak. 



Total lenyth, about 9.50 inches ; winj,', .').(Ht-5.4() ; culnien, 1.15-1.4,') ; tarsus, .9.5-1.00 ; middle 

 toe, .S5-.9S. 



Althoii^'h, at first sij,'ht, this Sandpiper seems very distinct from ,1. maritima and A. Coiiesi, 

 especially the latter, the apparent dilferences become j,'really reduced iiiion the careful e.\amination 

 of a lar^'e series of sj)ecimens. The dimen.sions, while averaj,'inj,' considerably greater (e.\cept as 

 ret;inils the feet), ai'e yt found to inosculate with those of that s|)ecies, while the dilference in 

 plumage, as compiled with .1, Coucsi, proves to be solely one of intensity of cidors— the liyhter 

 lints prevailing hi ptilociicmis, the darker ones in Coin:<i. The exact correspondence of pattern of 

 cciloratioii between the two extends to every stage of jdumage, even including the downy chick. 

 We therefore, all things considered, hiok upon the present liird as being merely a local insular race 

 of a species of which A. Couesi represents the resident form of the coast of Alaska and the Aleutian 

 t'liain, and from which .1. vuintima is perhaps not .specifically distinct. 



For what little we know of the habits of this newly discovered species we are 

 indebted to Mr. Henry AV. Elliott, who found a few breeding on the I'rybilof Islands. 

 Ill liis brief aecouiit of its nniiiuer of life he states that it was tlie only Wader that 

 ill' found breeding on these islands, with the marked exeeption, now and then, of 

 a stray pair of Lobt'pcs hj/pcrbovcus. It is said to make its ajipearance early in 

 .May, and to repair to the dry uiilaiuls aiul mossy luimniocks, wheri' it breeds. Its 

 nest is simply a cavity in a bunch of nuws, in which the hird deposits its four darkly 

 lildtched pyriform eggs, hatidiing them out within twenty diiys. 



The young come from the .shell clothed in a thick yellowish down, with dark-brown 

 markings on the head and back, but taking on the plumage of their parents, and 

 being able to fly as early as the lOth of August; ami at that season old and y(mng 

 tiock together for the iirst time, and conliiu' themselves to the sand-beaches and surf- 

 margins about the islands for a few wi'cks, when they take flight, leaving the islands 

 from about the 1st to the oth of September, aiul disappearing until the opening of 

 the new season. 



Mr. Elliott describes this bird as a most devoted and fearless parent, and states 

 that he has known it to flutter in feigned distress around by the hour, uttering a low 

 piping note when its nest was too nearly approached. It also makes a sound exactly 



