. l^fT^ 



SCOLOPACID.E — THE SIHPE FAMILY — RHYACOrillLUS. 



283 



!iii(l axilliirs more nurrowly barred with white. Jyinter plumage: Similar to K.solitarim, except 

 as pointed out above. 



'I'lie introduction of thi.s well-known Euioiiean f^pecics into the list of American bird.s rests 

 \iliou tlif circunistanue of a single situlfed specinu'n, said to have been killed in Nova Scotia, having 

 (iiMic into the iiossessiou of J. Edmund Martin^, Es((., the well-known authority on the Limicol(v. 

 Tlio collection of which it formed a part was received from a responsible dealer direct from Xova 

 .'icoti.i. '['he skin bail evidently Ijeen jirejiared by the same hand as the others of the coll lion, 

 wliich were all American species, so that there can be no reason to doubt the authenticity of the 

 ascril)ed locality, (("f. Brewer, " Bull. Xutt. Orn. ('lul>," III. Jan. 1878, p. 40.) 



IN-O). 

 te, with- 

 lateral 

 I of wing 



Till' (Jrccii Siiiidpipor, (jr White-tailtMl Tattler of Kurope, was inclmled by Nuttall 

 as among the liird.s of North Anu'rica. It i.s also given by Ikicbard.son in his " Fauna 

 lioreali-Americana," Imt was not iiudiuled by Mr. Lawri-nce in the 'Taeilic Railroad 

 ivt'port," Vol. IX. Nuttall states that two specimens had been obtained at Hudson's 

 Hiiy. but he does not mention the name of his informant. It is now restored to the 

 list of North Ameriean birds on the authority of .1. Edmund Hurting, Esq., who in 

 .Miueh, 187t{, wrote to J'rofessor Baii'd from London that he had reeently received 

 fiom Mr. H. Whitely. a respectable detiler at Woolwich, a small parcel of North 

 American skins which had been sent to him from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and that 

 iimoiig them was an example of this bird. Ujion inquiry, he was assured l)y Mr. 

 Wliitely that the skin came to him from Halifax, and that it had been prepared 

 there. Mr. Hurting regards this as the first authentic instance of the occurrence of 

 tiie Green Sandpii)er in North America. 



According to Varrell, the habits of this bird are as yet only imperfectly under- 

 .stood. In England it appears to be most plentiful in spring and autumn, a few 

 remaining there to breed, but the greater i)art going farther north, and i)robably 

 returning with their young. An occasional si)ecimen of this bird is not infrequently 

 met during the winter months. In some of its habits it resembles our Solitary Tattler, 

 irpquentiiig the sides of shallow streams and the banks of rivers and iidand lakes and 

 ponds, not being usmUly i'ouiul so near the sea as are the other Sandpipers. When 

 running it spreads and flirts up its tail like the European Redshanks (1\ rolidri's). 

 Its food consists of worms and insects. By some it is known as the Whistling Sand- 

 piper, its note — which is a shrill whistle — being thought to sound like cheet-cheet- 

 c/u'L't. 



Mr. Lubbock informed Yarrell that a pair of this species .built its nest in a hol- 

 low on the side of a claypit in Norfolk, in the autumn of 1839, and that the bird was 

 common during summer and autumn, upon a small stream near Attleburgh. The 

 siiiuo gentleman also stated that he had killed a specimen on the 4th of January, 1837, 

 when there was a deep snow on the ground, and all the Snipes had been driven out 

 of the country by the severity of the weather. He was nearly certain that it remains 

 in England all the year, with the exception of that period in spring and early sum- 

 inor during which it withdraws to rear its young. The 11th of April is the latest 

 tiiiii' in spring at which he has observed any. A nephew of JNIr. Lubbock informed 

 iiiiu that on the 23d of July he saw six of this species together, and that they appeared 

 to bo tAvo old birds with their four young. This bird is also said to be not uncommon 

 along the whole line of the southern marine counties of England, from Romney Marsh, 

 in Kent, to Sussex, Hampshire, and thence to the Land's End. Mr. Edward Double- 

 day saw several pairs about small streams in the vicinity of Snowdon in summer ; and 

 two pairs were observed near Capel Curig. It is also a summer visitor in Ireland. Mr. 

 Henry Doubleday informed Yarrell that in November, 1840, he shot a Green Sand- 

 piper in the vicinity of Epping. The bird was only slightly wounded, and was kept 



