OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 219 



Family CHAEADRIIDiE. Genus Helodromas. 



Subfamily Totaninm. 



SOLITARY SANDPIPER. 



HELODEOMAS SOLITARIUS— (l^ifeow). 



Tringa solitaria, Wilson, Amer. Orn. vii. p. 53, pi. 58, fig. 3 (1813). 



Totanus solitarius (Wilson), Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 130 (1885) ; Lilford, Col. 

 Fig. Brit. B. pt. xxvi. (1893) ; Dixon, Nests and Eggs Non-indig. Brit. B. app. 1, 

 p. 336 (1894) ; Seebohm. Col. Pig. Eggs Brit. B. p. 138 (1896). 



Helodromas solitarius (Wilson), Sharpe, Handb. B. Gt. Brit. iii. p. 292 (1896) ; Sharpe, 

 Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 444 (1896). 



Geographical distribution. — British .■ Three recorded occurrences 

 establish the claim of the Solitary Sandpiper to rank as "British." They are as 

 follows : Lanarkshire (one example), some years previous to 1870 ; Scilly Isles 

 (one example) , September, 1882 ; Cornwall (one example) , October, 1884. Foreign : 

 Nearctic region; Neotropical region in winter. It 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 (abnormally), Mexico, Central America, 

 and the West Indies on migration, and winters in the American portion of the 

 Intertropical or Primogsean realm. If this Sandpiper normally visits the tem- 

 perate portions of South America, it most probably breeds there, and is another 

 of those species which migrate north and south to breed from an Equatorial base. 



Allied forms. — Helodromas ochropus, the Old World representative of 

 the Solitary Sandpiper, a British species, and dealt with fully in the preceding 

 chapter. Some nine years ago, Brewster described a form of this Sandpiper from 

 the Pacific coast of North America, under the name of Totanus solitarius 

 cinnainortieus. It is said to differ in being larger, the wings greyer, and the pale 

 spots on the upper parts brownish-cinnamon instead of buffish-white. These 

 characters, however, do not appear to be constant. 



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 Grreen Sandpiper. It is of an equally solitary disposition, only 



