64 



U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 217 



Family SCOLOPACIDAE: Woodcock, Snipe, Sanderiings 



The list of shorebirds is extensive for an inland mountain region, 

 and it is evident that there is much migratory traffic in addition to 

 some nesting. I have no evidence to suggest that additional forms 

 may be found, although I have frequently been asked by ornitholo- 

 gists for information about bristle-thighed curlew in the mountains. 

 There appears little doubt as to the birds which are nesting or 

 transient. 



The weights of ten of the shorebirds shown in table 2 can be used 

 for comparison of the size of the two sexes. In two species the average 

 weight of males is heavier by more than 10 percent, in three the 

 females are heavier, and there is no significant difference in the other 

 five (inclusion of specimens carrying a temporary excess of weight 

 because of being in laying condition can, of course, account for a 

 higher average weight) . I have heard it said that female sandpipers 

 are larger than males, but that generalization does not apply to the 

 dimension of weight. 



Table 2. — Average weight of the two sexes of Scolopacidae of ten species 





Male 



Female 



Name 



Number 



Weight 

 (g.) 



Number 



Weight 

 (g.) 



Capella gallinago delieata 



6 



100 



3 



102 



Numenius phaeopus hudsoni- 











cus 



2 



366 



4 



456 



Heteroscelus incanum 



13 



101 



16 



116 



Totanus flavipes 



14 



81 



6 



81 



Erolia melanotos 



25 



86 



10 



60 



Erolia bairdii 



28 



39 



12 



39 



Erolia minutilla 



16 



20 



14 



22 



Limnodromus scolopaeeus 



28 



100 



11 



109 



Ereunetes pusUlus 



32 



24 



10 



26 



Tryngites subnificoUis 



4 



71 



6 



53 



Capella gallinago delieata (Orel) 



4 males May 21- June 20 



1 female May 22, June 2 



weight (6), 95-109, 



average 100 g. 

 weight 92, 113, 105 



The earliest recorded Wilson's snipe were seen at Tuluak Lake May 

 15, 1950, May 16, 1951, heard at Summit May 19, 1952, and seen on May 

 14, 1953, and May 25, 1954. Not many are seen in the spring, but 

 the flight sound of snipe is heard almost every day in the Killik and 

 Anaktuvuk Valleys until about mid-July. Between June 19 and 

 June 24, 1951, I saw two Wilson snipe at Contact Creek and one at 



