580 PECTORAL SANDPIPERS. 
Europe, and the correctness of its supposed identification on the 
Asiatic side of Bering Strait is open to question. In summer it is 
distributed across the Barren grounds, from Point Barrow and the 
mouth of the Yukon to Hudson Bay; while on migration it is 
common throughout the Dominion of Canada and the United 
States, ranging to the Bermudas, Bahamas and West Indies 
generally, and as far south as Patagonia and Chile in winter. It 
has occurred several times in the south and west of Greenland. 
The naturalists of the United States Expedition to Point Barrow 
in 1882 and 1883 obtained eighteen sets of eggs, each complete 
clutch consisting of 4; these have a drab or greenish ground-colour, 
blotched with umber-brown : measurements 1°5 by 1'1 in, The nest 
is said to be built in the grass, in some high and dry locality, and 
never in the marsh like that of Phalaropes. The birds pair soon 
after their arrival towards the end of May or early in June, when the 
male may be seen taking short, low flights, with the wings held high 
and beaten stiffly, while the throat is puffed out like a goitre (whence 
the name Pectoral), and a muffled oo, hoo, hoo, hoo, is constantly 
repeated. The food consists of insects—especially coleoptera, and 
sea-weed, on which the birds become remarkably fat. 
Theadult has the feathers of the upper parts dark brown with 
buff and rufous margins ; secondaries with but little white on their 
edges ; rump and tail-coverts dusky-brown ; central tail-feathers nearly 
black, the rest ash-brown with paler margins; cheeks and throat 
dull white striped with hair-brown ; breast buffish, profusely streaked 
with brown ; under parts white. The sexes do not differ in plumage. 
Length 8 in. (bill 1-1), wing 5°3 in. The young bird has fewer 
stripes on the breast. 
An adult example of the Siprr1aN PECTORAL SANDPIPER waS 
shot on August 29th 1892, at Breydon, Norfolk ; while a bird of this 
species, now in the Norwich Museum, is said to have been obtained 
near Yarmouth in September 1848. The former is described and 
figured in ‘The Ibis’ 1893, pp. 181-185, pl. v. 
This species breeds in Eastern Siberia, but its eggs are as yet 
undescribed. In autumn it visits the Commander Islands, wanders 
to Alaska, and passes along the east side of Asia to Australia, New 
Zealand, and Polynesia. 
The adult is more rufous than the American species on the crown, 
mantle and breast, and the markings on the under parts are pro- 
nouncedly arrow-shaped and descend to the flanks. The young bird 
has very few stripes on the breast. Length 7°4 in. ; wing 525 in. 
