44 NOBTH AMERICAN SHOKEBIKDS. 



as far south as central Florida (Scott), but is unknown in the Bahamas 

 and the West Indies. On the coast of Texas it ranges to the mouth 

 of the Rio Grande (Merrill), but is not yet known in northeastern 

 Mexico. On the Pacific coast it is abundant south to southern Lower 

 California (Belding), but seems not to pass farther south. The only 

 record south of the region just outlined is that of a specimen, imdoubt- 

 edly a straggler, taken May 23, at Momotomba, Nicaragua (specimen 

 in British Museum). During the winter the species remains north 

 to the coasts of North Carolina (Bishop), New Jersey, casually 

 (Stone), Louisiana (Beyer), Texas (Carroll), and at least to central 

 Washington (Bowles). The Siberian birds of this form winter from 

 Japan and China to the Malay Archipelago. 



Spring migration. — Most of the spring movements occur in May, 

 but a few early birds press northward in April: Long Beach, New 

 Jersey, April 17, 1877 (Scott); Long Island, New York, April 3, 

 1882 (Chapman); Erie, Pa., April 21, 1900 (Todd). On the Atlantic 

 coast north of Massachusetts the species is not so common in spring 

 as in fall, while around the Great Lakes the reverse is the case. The 

 main body of the Atlantic coast birds seem to reach their breeding 

 grounds by way of the Great Lakes and Hudson Bay. Along this 

 route they are late migrants, reaching southern Ontario on the average 

 May 20, earliest May 13, 1905 (Taverner). 



The Pacific coast birds appeared in southern British Columbia 

 April 25, 1888 (Brooks), and April 26, 1889 (Brooks); one was seen 

 as early as April 2, 1897, at Howcan (Cantwell), in the extreme 

 southern part of Alaska. Other dates of spring arrival are: Fort 

 Kenai, May 16, 1869 (Osgood); Kigulik Mountains, May 17, 1905 

 (Anthony); Dawson, Yukon, May 24, 1899 (Cantwell); Point Bar- 

 row, Alaska, May 31, 1882 (Murdoch), May 29, 1883 (Murdoch), and 

 June 2, 1898 (Stone). 



None were noted in Lower California after May 10 (Belding), but 

 in central Florida they have been recorded as late as June 2, 1886 

 (Scott), and in southern Ontario the average date of the last seen 

 is June 4, latest June 13, 1891 (Nash). 



Eggs have been taken at the mouth of the Yukon, June 6, 1879 

 (Nelson); Cape Prince of Wales, June 27, 1898 (Grinnell) ; and at 

 Point Barrow, June 22, 1883 (Murdoch). At this last locality the 

 eggs in some seasons must be laid earlier than the above date, for in 

 1898 downy young were taken July 6 (Stone). 



Fall migration. — Early fall migrants were passing south July 19, 

 1900, along the west shore of Hudson Bay, near York Factory (Preble), 

 and two weeks later they were enormously abundant, showing that 

 this is one of the principal routes in fall migration. Since the species 

 is not common in the Mississippi Valley and is comparatively rare in 

 western Ontario in the fall, it is evident that many of these Hudson 



