HETEEACTITIS. 377 



differing from it in having the tarsus decidedly shorter, and about equal in length to 

 the middle toe and claw. The tibia is bare for a short space. The wing is somewhat 

 pointed, the distance between the tips of the secondaries and those of the primaries 

 being greater than the length of the tarsus. 



Ileteractitis is a very curious genus of Waders. Two species are known, H. brevipes 

 and H. incana. The former breeds in Eastern Siberia and Kamtchatka, and winters 

 in Australia, passing through China, Japan, and the Malay Archipelago on migration. 

 H, incana is an American form, breeding in Alaska, passing along the western coast 

 of the Nearctic Region, and wintering in the Pacific Islands and N.E. Australia. The 

 nasal groove is longer in H. incana than in H. brevipes, and the tarsus is plated behind 

 in the latter species and reticulated in H. incana. Intermediate specimens are met 

 with, and Dr. Sharpe suggests that the two forms probably interbreed. 



1. Heteractitis incana. 



Ash-coloured Snipe, Lath. Gen. Syn. iii. pt. 1, p. 154'. 



Scolopax inca?ia, Gm. Syst. Nat. i. p. 658 '. 



Heteroscelis incanus, Salv. P. Z. S. 1883, p. 429 " ; Baird, Brewer, & Ridgw. Water-Birds N. Amer. 

 i. p. 290^ 



Heteractitis incanus, A. O. U. Cheek-1. N. Amer. Birds, 2nd ed. p. 95 ' ; Elliot, N. Amer. Shore- 

 Birds, p. 135' J Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 453'. 



Ptil. vix <Bstiv. Supra cinerascens, alis dorso concoloribus, primariis nigricantibus, rhachidibus brunneis vel 

 albicanti-brunneis, cauda cinerea ; supercilio angusto et facie lateral! et coUi lateribus albis, nigro lineatis ; 

 regione pariotica cinerea ; corpore subtus albo, gutture vix nigro maculate ; prsepectore et corpore reliquo 

 subtus albis, nigricanti-cinereo transfasciatis, abdomine imo pure albo ; subalaribus et axillaribus cinereis : 

 rostro et pedibus sordide virescentibus ; iride brunnea. Long, tota circa lO'O, alae 7'1, caudse 2-95, 

 culm. 1-86, tarsi 1"2. (Descr. avis ad. ex Acapulco. Mus. nostr.) 



Ptil. Mem. Supra sicut in ptilosi aestiva, sed corpore subtus magis concolore, minime nigro transfasciato, gutture, 

 pectore medio, abdomine et subcaudalibus pure albis ; gutture imo, pectoris lateribus et bypocbondriis 

 cinereis ; subalaribus et axillaribus quoque cinereis. Long, tota lO'O, alae 6'95. (Descr. maris adulti ex 

 St. Michael's, Alaska. Mus. nostr.) 



Hab. NoETH Ameeica, Pacific coast from Alaska southward to Mexico ^. — Mexico, 

 Acapulco {MarJcham^'^). — Oceania generally; N.E. Austealia^. 



H. incana breeds in the extreme north, since it passes through the Aleutian and Seal 

 Islands in May, June, and July, on its way to the more arctic regions. It returns 

 by Alaska in August and September, and winters in the islands of Oceania, migrating 

 apparently along the Pacific coast of North America and probably along the coast of 

 Western Mexico, as a specimen was obtained by Admiral Markham at Acapulco in 

 March 1880 ^. 



The Wandering Tattler, as this species has been very appropriately named by the 

 American naturalists, affects rocky shores, either singly or in small parties of three or 

 four individuals, flying from rock to rock when disturbed. Dr. Stejneger says that in 

 appearance this bird resembles the Spotted Sandpiper, but that it does not flirt its tail or 



BIOL, centk.-amek., Aves, Vol. III., May 1903. 48 



