248 PR.ECOCIAL GRALLATORBS — LIMICOL^. 



tions. It nowhere seems to occur in great numbers, although in some regions it is 

 now known to be less rare than it was formerly su^jposed to be. 



Dr. Heuglin met with it on the Eed Sea from July to September, and in its 

 summer dress; this was between Suakin and Bab-el-Mandeb. Those seen were 

 either solitary individuals, or were in small flocks. In October and November he 

 again met with them on the Somali coast ; these were in their winter dress. Mr. T. 

 Ayres (" Ibis," 1878) also mentions procuring an example in the Transvaal ; it was in 

 its winter plumage, and was in company with others of the species. 



Mr. C. A. Wright speaks of this bird as being common in spring and autumn at 

 Malta. He has also met with it there in June, July, August, and September. Mr. H. 

 Saunders met with it in Southern Spain in May, it being then in its fullest breeding- 

 plumage. Professor Newton states, on the authority of Mr. Proctor, that specimens 

 of this bird have been received from Iceland. Dr. Von Middeudorff gives it as one 

 of the birds of Siberia, where it is found on the tundras or barrens. "Wheelwright 

 speaks of it as rare in Scandinavia, and as only seen on the southern coast during the 

 periods of migration. He shot specimens in their full summer dress on the shores 

 of Scania. This species is supposed to breed on the west coast of Finland, not far 

 from the sea. 



According to Yarrell, the Curlew Sandpiper, which was formerly regarded as a 

 very rare visitor to England, is much more common than was supposed, it having 

 probably been confounded with the Dunlin. A few pairs of the species are believed 

 occasionally to breed in that country. Specimens have been shot in the last of May, 

 in the perfection of their summer plumage, in Sandwich ; one — also in the breeding- 

 plumage — was shot in Norfolk, and young of this species were taken in the same 

 locality in July. 



According to Thompson it is a regular summer visitor to Ireland, and also to 

 certain parts of England ; and in September, 1SS7, more than twenty of this species 

 were exposed for sale on a single day in Leadeidiall Market, London. 



Nilsson states that this Vtird visits Sweden, remaining there from spring to autumn ; 

 but that it is found only in tlie eastern part of Scandinavia, and is not known on the 

 western shore. According to Pennant, it visits the shores of the Caspian Sea, Lake 

 Baikal, and the mouth of the Don. 



According to Temminck, this species breeds in Holland; and he describes its 

 eggs as being yellowish white, spotted with dark brown. It is said to feed on insects, 

 small Crustacea, and worms, which it obtains by probing in the soft sand at the edge 

 of the water. 



Messrs. Alston and Harvie-Brown (" Ibis," January, 1873) mention finding full 

 summer-plumaged specimens of this species in the market of Archangel, in Kussia, 

 June 18. 



It is said to be found in abundance in both its migrations on the coast of Belgium 

 and France, but very rarely straggles iidand. Mr. Dresser mentions seeing two large 

 baskets of beautiful specimens of this bird, in full breeding-plumage, in Barcelona, 

 Spain, in May. In winter it visits Africa, ranging southward even as far as the Cape 

 of Good Hope, a few barren birds remaining in North Africa through the summer. 



It is also found along all the coasts of Asia, from Asia Minor to China; but 

 writers differ in regard to its abundance in the interior. It is common in Siberia, 

 where it undoubtedly breeds, as Drs. Finsch and Brehm found it breeding in great 

 numbers on the isthmus of the Yalmal Peninsula, near the margins of the lakes on 

 the tundra, in latitude 67° 30'. As this was in August, they were too late for eggs, 

 but met with the young in the down — which, however, they failed to secure. 



