Greaves: The Spotted Sandpiper in Yorkshire. 01x 
proved on investigation to be a Green Sandpiper, and one at 
Bridlington in 1848, and another at Rolston, in Holderness, 
in 1892, are considered doubtful, and the claim of this North 
American Sandpiper to be admitted to the Yorkshire list, rests 
on the authority of Sir Wm. Milner, who refers to the specimen 
shot to the north of the pier at Whitby, on March 29th, 1849, 
which it is stated was set up for Sir William’s collection. The 
remaining record of the five specimens referred to concerns one 
which E. J. Higgins, of York, is said to have seen in the flesh 
in the company of a flock of Dunlins. 
Rejecting the three ‘doubtfuls’, then, the example under 
notice is only the third known occurrence of this species in 
Yorkshire. In recording it I am wholly in the hands of a 
taxidermist, who owned the skin, and the data are rather scanty, 
but he is emphatic in declaring that this bird passed through 
his hands about the year 1899, and that it was obtained at 
Hebden Bridge. He adds that he has always understood that 
the locality was Hardcastle Crags. His impression is that two 
representatives of the species were received by his employer 
both from Hebden Bridge, and about the same time, that one 
was stuffed and returned to the owner, and he gives me the 
reason this example remained in his possession. The month of 
the occurrence is also in doubt, but it was in autumn; whether 
July, August, or September he does not remember. 
Mr. Stubbs, who has made a critical examination of the 
skin, comparing it closely with many dated American skins, 
expressed a doubt about the example being an autumn bird ; 
and rather inclined to the opinion that it was a spring migrant. 
That belief is based on the fact that the autumn birds which 
he has examined have their primaries and secondaries very 
much abraded, whilst the one under notice does not show the 
slightest tendency to this. He suggests as an explanation that 
the bird may have been a spring migrant which had remained 
in Britain throughout the summer, and in that way escaped 
the wear and tear of the nesting season. On measuring the 
specimen I found it to be nearly 83 inches long, nearly an 
inch longer than is given by some authorities, the tail extend- 
ing half an inch beyond the tips of the wings, which reach 
4}inches; culmen, barely aninch; tarsusZinch. The plumage 
of the under parts is whitish, with dark spots, these com- 
mencing at the base of the bill, and being continued to the 
end of the tail. 
Having personally and specially interviewed the taxider- 
mist referred to with the object of obtaining the history of the 
specimen, I am of opinion that there need be no hesitation in 
accepting it as the third representative of the species which 
has occurred in Yorkshire. The specimen has now been added 
to the fine collection of Yorkshire birds in the Hull Museum. 
1911 Feb. 1. 
