1867.] prof. newton on new birds' eggs. 165 



Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 



Tryngites rufescens (Vieillot). (PI. XV. fig. 4.) 



For a knowledge of the eggs of this occasional visitor to Europe 

 oologists are indebted to the efforts of Mr. R. R. ]\Iactarlane, one of 

 the collectors employed by the Smithsonian Institution of Washing- 

 ton in those explorations of Arctic America which have been so pro- 

 lific in oological interest. Tlie specimen I possess (PI. XV. fig. 4) 

 was obtained, 29th June, 1863, by that gentleman on the barren 

 grounds to the east of the Anderson River, and was out of a nest of 

 four eggs, from which the hen bird was shot. I desire to record 

 here my deep acknowledgement of the kindness with which Prof. 

 Henry has placed the describing of this valuable specimen in my 

 power. Its size is 1*52 inch in long diameter by 1*08 inch. In 

 coloration it differs somewhat from the normal appearance of most 

 eggs of the Scolopacidce (tiiough I have seen some Snipes' which re- 

 semble it), being of a pale stone-colour, with well-defined moderate- 

 sized and not thickly disposed blotches of hair-brown, beneath which 

 is a series of blotches of two shades of lavender-grey. The accounts 

 which have been published of the habits of this species seem to justify 

 its removal from the genus Tringa. 



American Stint. 



Tringa minutilla, Vieillot {fide Coues, Proc. Acad. Philad. 1861, 

 p. 191). (PI. XV. fig. 3.) 



The eggs I possess of this species have much the same history as 

 that of the last. They are three, out of four, from a nest whence 

 the hen bird was snared in June 1863, on the Arctic coast east of 

 the Anderson River, and were collected by Mr. Macfarlane. A brief 

 note, in Prof. Baird's handwriti)ig which accompanies the specimens, 

 adds the information that there were "decayed leaves in uest." 

 These eggs have not much resemblance to those of Tringa minuta 

 or T. temmincki ; for though the ground-colour is much the same, 

 the darker markings take the form rather of streaks or dashes than 

 of blotches or spots. They vary much in intensity of tone. In size 

 they seem to correspond almost exactly with those of T, temmincki. 



Grey Phalarope. 



Phalaropus fidicarius (Linnaeus). (PL XV. fig. 1.) 



In the "Appendix" to Mr. Baring Gould's 'Iceland' (p. 412) 

 I mentioned that in the summer of 1862 a friend of mine sent me 

 four eggs as those of this bird, which had been taken under his 

 superintendence, and that I believed them to be especially well au- 

 thenticated. When I was in Iceland in 1 858 I discovered and watched 

 for several hours two pairs of Grey Phalaropes on a little lake at 

 Utskala, within a few yards of this gentleman's parsonage house ; and 

 though I am sure they did not breed there that year, I was told by 

 several of the inhabitants of the district that they did so sometimes. 

 Accordingly I took my friend and other persons to look at the birds, 



