Family CHARADRIID.K. Genus Totanus. 



Subfamily Totanin.e. 



SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



TOTANUS SOLITARIUS— ( Wilson). 



Geographical Distribution. — British . Three recorded 

 occurrences establish the claim of this species to rank as "British." 

 They are as follows : Lanarkshire (i example), some years 

 previous to 1870; Scilly Isles (i example), September, 1882; 

 Cornwall (i example), October, 1884. Foreign: Nearctic region ; 

 Neotropical region in winter. Breeds in the northern United 

 States from about lat. 44° up to the limits of forest growth near 

 the Arctic Circle. Passes the United States, the Bermudas, 

 Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies on migration, and 

 winters in South America, in Venezuela, Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, 

 and La Plata. 



Allied Forms. — Tetanus ockropus, the Old World repre- 

 sentative of the Solitary Sandpiper, a British species, and dealt 

 with fully in the preceding chapter. 



Time during which the Solitary Sandpiper may be 

 taken. — August I St to March ist. 



Habits. — The Solitary Sandpiper arrives at its summer quarters 

 in the northern United States in May, a little later in higher 

 latitudes ; the return journey commences as early as the end of 

 July, and in the extreme south lasts into October. In its habits 

 the Solitary Sandpiper very closely resembles its Old World ally, 

 the Green Sandpiper. It is of an equally solitary disposition, 

 only being noticed in small parties shortly after the broods are 

 reared. It is not a coast bird, but prefers to run about the 

 margins of pools and streams, occasionally wading through the 



