108 



NATUliAL HISTL RY COLLECTIONS IX ALASKA. 



The measurements are as follows: Wiiig, 5; tail, 2.10; tarsus, 1.15; culmeu, .99. 



Teinga maoxtlata Yieill. Pectoral Sandpiper (Esk. A-boiihM-agt-shu-idgiik). 



A single specimen of this bird was taken at Sitka, by Biscbotif, during the Telegraph Expedi- 

 tion. During my residence in the Territory I found it an extremely common bird at the Yukon 

 mouth, where the low, gras.sy flats afford it a much-frequented breeding ground. 



According to Murdoch, it breeds abundantly at Point Barrow, where it arrives the la-t of May 

 or first of June. They breed during June and July, and move south by September. On the Near 

 Islands, according to Turner, it is an abundant summer resident. 



It arrives on the shores of Bering Sea, near Saint Michaels, from the 15th to the 25th of May, 

 and after lingering about wet spots where the green herbage just begins to show among the uni- 

 versal browns of the tundra, they pair and seek their nesting places. It is a common but never 

 very abundant bird during both migrations near Saint Michaels, but it is rare there during the 

 breeding season. This is difiBcult to account for, as they are extremely common at the latter period 

 on the low, flat islands in the Yukon delta and are common also at other points on the coast. 

 Dall found it at Plover Bay, East Siberia, and I found it common on the north coast of Siberia 

 the last of July, ISSl, where, like the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, it was evidently upon its breeding 

 ground. They arrive on the east coast of Bering Sea before the ground is entirely free from snow, 

 and during September, in company with A. acuminata, are numerous about small, brackish pools 

 and the banks of tide creeks. October, with its frosty nights and raw, unpleasant days, soon thins 

 their ranks until, by the 10th or 12th, the last one has gone. 



The last of May, 1879, I pitched my tent on a lonely island in the Yukon delta and passed 

 several weeks in almost continual physical discomfort owing to the cold rain and snow-storms which 

 prevailed. However, I look back with pleasure upon the time passed here among the various 

 water-fowl, when every day contributed new and strange experiences. 



The night of May 24 I lay wrapped in my blanket, and from the raised flap of the tent 

 looked out over as dreary a cloud-covered landscape as can be imagined. The silence was unbroken 

 save by the tinkle and clinking of the disintegrating ice in the river, and at intervals by the wild 

 notes of some restless loon, which arose in a hoarse reverberating cry and died away in a strange 

 gurgling sound. As my eyelids began to droop and the scei>e to become indistinct, suddenly a low, 

 hollow, booming note struck my ear and sent my thoughts back to a spring morning in Northern 

 Illinois, and to the loud vibrating tones of the prairie chickens. Again the sound arose nearer 

 and more distinct, and with an effort I brought myself back to the reality of my position and, 

 resting upon one elbow, listened. A few seconds passed and again arose the note ; a moment later 

 and, gun in hand, I stood outside the tent. The open flat extended away on all sides, with appar- 

 ently not a living creature near. Once again the note was repeated close by, and a glance revealed 

 its author. Standing in the thin grasses 10 or 15 yards from me, with its throat inflated until 

 it was as large as the rest of the bird, was a male A. maculata. The succeeding days afforde<l op- 

 portunity to observe the bird as it uttered its singular notes under a variety of situations and at 

 various hours of the day or during the light Arctic night. The note is deep, hollow, and resonant, 

 but at the same time liquid and mu.sical, and may be represented by a repetition of the syllables 

 tdO-u, t66-u, to6-u, too-il, too-ii, to6-u, ioO-u, too-fi. Before the bird utters these notes it tills its 

 sesophagns with air to such an extent that the breast and throat is inflated to twice or more its 

 natural size, and the great airsac thus formed gives the i)eculiar resonant quality to the not.e. 



