CATALOGUE OF CANADIAN BIRDS. l8l 



247. Western Semipalmated Sandpipsr. 



Ereunetes occidentalis Lawr. 1864. 

 A male taken at Ducks, near Kamloops, B.C., August 22nd, 1889. 

 {Streator.) An abundant resident ; it is found throughout the year 

 at Victoria, Vancouver island. {Fannin.) Abundant in the fall 

 at Sumas lake, in the lower Fraser valley. {Brooks.) A small 

 sandpiper supposed to be this species was seen on a beach in Cum- 

 shewa inlet. Queen Charlotte islands. Mr. Keen reports its occur- 

 rence at Massett. {Osgood.) As soon as the snow disappears on 

 the low ground about Norton sound, Alaska, these little birds 

 arrive on the shore of Bering sea, in the vicinity of St. Michael and 

 the Yukon mouth. It frequents the Arctic coasts of Alaska in addi- 

 tion to being found throughout the interior along streams where 

 suitable flats occur. {Nelson.) Abundant on all the Aleutian islands, 

 and at St. Michael outnumbers all other waders. {Turner.) This 

 was the common shore bird seen at Homer, Alaska. {Figgins.) 



Breeding Notes. — This species arrives at St. Michael by the 

 'middle of May. About the first of June it begins to build its nest 

 among the dry mosses found on the low grounds. The nest is only 

 a slight depression in the moss, containing a few feathers. Four or 

 five eggs are laid. The male assists in incubating, as the first speci- 

 men which I obtained fluttered from the nest as if it were wounded. 

 His fluttering wings, low piping note, and limping gait caused me to 

 detect the nest almost at my feet. {Turner.) By the ist of June, 

 and earlier in some seasons, they have eggs, and in one instance 

 young were found as early as June 7th. Their nests are usually on 

 the drier ^s^t of the tundra, generally on a mossy hummock or slight 

 swell. A sheltering bunch of dwarf willow or a few grass stems, in a 

 tuft, form a favourite cover. The eggs are sometimes placed on a 

 thin layer of dead grass-stems, or willow leaves, loosely arranged, but 

 very commonly the mat of dry grass or willow leaves afforded by the 

 spot chosen serves as the nest without special arrangement. {Nelson.) 



CHI. CALTDRIS Cuvier. 1799- 1800. 



248. Sanderling. 



Calidris arenaria (Linn.) Leach. 181 6. 

 Scarce, and said not to breed further south in Greenland than 

 lat. 68°, but the young have been obtained at Godthaab; breeds 



