SCOLOPAGIDiE — THE SNIPE FAMILY — EURYNORHYNCHUS. 309 



Hab. Ill summer, Eastern Siberia, especially along Arctic coast ; accidental on shores of Alaska 

 north of Behiing's Straits ; in winter, " mouths of the Ganges and east coast of Bay of Bengal," and 

 other portions of Soutlieasterii Asia (Hartisg). 



Sp. Char. " Description (adult in mnter) : Bill black, longer than tliu head, flat, dilated con- 

 siderably at the extremity in a rhomboidal shape. Tongue broad and smooth. Forehead, cheeks, 

 throat, and under parts pure white ; crown, nape and sides of neck, back, wings, and upper tail- 

 coverts dusky brown, each feather margined more or less with pale gray. Wings long and 

 pointed ; shafts of the primaries white ; tirst ipiill-feather the longest. Tail short, rounded, con- 

 sisting of twelve feathere, the two middle feathei-s the longest and darkest in color. Legs and toes 

 black, moderately long, slender, three toes in front, one behind, margined along the sides ; a slight 

 membrane connecting the base of the middle and outer toe on each foot. Total length 6.00 inches ; 

 bill, 1.00 ; wing, from carpus, 3.70; tarsus, .90. (Exempl. typ. in Mus. Upsal._^rfe auctt. citt.). 



'^ Adult in summer (hitherto undescribed) : Bill iis above. Head, neck, breast, and back ferru- 

 ginous ; the feathei-s of the head, nape, and back with dark-brown centres ; those of the throat and 

 brejtst slightly margined with white. Under parts, from the breast downward, becoming grad- 

 ually whiter toward the tail. Primaries somewhat darker than in winter. Legs and toes black. 

 (E.\empL in JIus. Acad. Oxon.).' — Hartisg, "Ibis," 1869, p. 428. 



Youmj (No. 814.34, U. S. Nat. Mus. Port Providence, Plover Bay, Siberia ; August ; Drs. 

 Ball & Bean) : Scapulars and interscapulai-s black centrally, brownish gray beneath the sur- 

 face, and broadly bordered terminally with soiled whitish, the anterior feathers, however, both of 

 scapulars and interscapulars margined with rusty ; wing brownish gray, the feathers darker cen- 

 trally, with shafts quite dusk}' ; greater coverts tipped with white, Ibriuing a distinct bar across 

 the wing ; remiges dusky, the basal portion of secondaries and inner primaries white ; pileum dull 

 light grayish, spotted with dull black, the feathers edged with dull rusty ; remainder of head, 

 neck, and lower parts soUed white, clouded anteriorly with light grayish brown, but nearly pure 

 white and quite immaculate posteriorly. Bill black ; legs and feet blackish brown. Wing, 3.35 ; 

 culmen, .80 ; greatest breadth of maxilla, .45 ; tarsus, .80 ; middle toe, .60. 



The habits and geographical distribution of this very remarkable form are very far 

 from being well understood, though the regions it visits during the breeding-season 

 and in its migrations are a little better knovm. It was first referred to by Linnaeus 

 as ha\'ing some supposed resemblance to the Spoonbill, and for nearly a centtuy was 

 only known from" a unique example in the Museum of Upsala, which was said to 

 have been proctu-ed from Surinam ; but this was evidently au error. It has since 

 been referred to by Bancroft as a bird of Guiana ; but he either followed Luinaus or 

 mistook for it some other species. Lesson gave as its habitat the Arctic Eegion of 

 both continents, but also stated that an examjile, shot near Paris, was in one of the 

 museums of that city ; and Bonaparte gave it, in his " Geographical List," as a Euro- 

 pean species. Neither of these statements is now credited, inasmuch as there is no 

 evidence that anj- example of this sjiecies has been taken in Etu'ope. 



Professor A. Newton, in an exhaustive paper (" Ibis,"' 1869, pp. 428-434), assigns 

 to it a place among the Waders, between Ereunetes petrifirutus and Tringa subavjuata, 

 and he has with great i)aius prepared a list of all the examples of the Spoon-billed 

 Sandpiper known to have been taken. The locality of the type-example remains 

 undiscovered. The known localities are Edmondstone's Island, Saugur Sand, 1836 ; 

 Arracan, in the same year ; Calcutta, 1840 ; mouth of the Ganges, 1840 ; Amherst in 

 Tenasserim, 1846 ; three taken in 1856 and twelve in 1859, in Chittagong ; and one, 

 the only example known to have been secured in summer plumage, from Belu-ing's 

 Straits. The last-named was taken by the expedition under Captain Moore, and 

 is now in the new Museum of Oxford. Its supposed presence on both shores of 

 Behring's Straits in the breeding-season is the occasion of its being placed iu the 

 North American fauna, though Captain Moore's example is given as having come 

 from the northeast corner of Asia (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1859, p. 201). 



