SCOLOPACID/E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — RHYACOPHILUS. 283 



and axillars more narrowly barred with white. JVinter plwmage : Similar to B. solitarius, except 

 as pointed out above. 



The introduction of this well-known European .species into the li^t of American Ijirds rests 

 upon the circumstance of a single .stuffed specimen, said to have been killed in Nova Scotia, having 

 come into the possession of J. Edmund Harting, Esq., the well-known authority on the Limicolas. 

 The collection of which it Ibrnied a part was received from a responsible dealer direct from Nova 

 Scotia. The skin had evidently been prepared liy the same hand as the others of the collection, 

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

 ascribed locality. (Cf Brewer, •• Bull. Xult. Orn. ('lub." 111. Jan. bsTs, Ji. 4i).) 



Tlie Green Sandpiper, or White-tailed Tattler of Europe, was included by Nuttall 

 as among the l)ird.s of North America. It is also given by Kichard.son iu his " Fauna 

 Boreali-Auiericana," but was not included by Mr. Lawrence in the "Pacific Railroad 

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

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

 list of North American birds on the authority of J. Edmund Harting, Esq., who in 

 March, 1873, wrote to I'rofessor Baird from London that he had recently received 

 from Mr. H. 'Whitely, a respectable dealer at Woolwich, a small parcel of North 

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

 among them was an example of this bird. Upon inquiry, he was assured by Mr. 

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

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

 the Green Sandpiper in North America. 



According to Yarrell, 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 part going farther north, and probably 

 returning with their young. An occasional specimen of this bird is not infrequently 

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

 frequenting the sides of shallow streams and the banks of rivers and inland lakes and 

 ponds, not being usually found so near the sea as are the other Sandpipers. When 

 running it spreads and flirts up its tail like the European Redshanks {T. calidris). 

 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- 

 cheet. 



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

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

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

 same 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- 

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

 time in spring at which he has observed any. A nephew of Mr. Lubbock informed 

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

 to be two old birds with their four young. This bird is also said to l)e 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 



