400 THE FUR SEALS OP THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS. 



to find after considerable search two small young clinging to the sedges. They had 

 evidently made their way through the scanty sedge growth for fully 30 feet from the 

 shore. Ever and anon as I was watching the old birds would swim near the place, 

 constantly turning in all directions with head and neck erect. Suddenly the bill 

 would be thrust into the water, a nutritious morsel would be swallowed and the 

 turning and paddling continued. 'So. 118756, ad. S , July 24, 1800, St. Paul, W. P., is 

 beginning to molt; there are a few new white feathers appearing on the scapulars 

 and scattered all over the head and neck. Stomach contents: one specimen, "many 

 diptera."— ;8'. D. J. 



Family SCOL.OPACIDAE. Snipes, Sandpipers, etc. 



43. Tringa ptilocnemis Coues. Pribilof Sandpiper. " Kie-Uts-He." 



Tringa (yrassirostris, Dall, Proc. Cal. Ac. Sci. 1873, 28; Am. Nat. VII, 1873, 634.— Coues, in 



Elliott's Ept. Seal Ids. 1873; Reprint, 1875, 182. 

 Tringa ptilocnemis, CouBS, in Elliott's Rpt. Aff. Alaska, 1873 (note) ; Reprint, 1875, 182; Am. Nat. 



VIII, 1874, 500.— Elijott, Mou. Seal Ids. 1882, 129.— Nelson, Bds. Alaska, 1887, 105.— Haut- 



LAUB, .lour, fur Oru. 1883, 279.— A. O. U. Ch. List, 1895, 87.— Eidgway, Man. 1896, 154.— 



Palmer, Nidiologist, 1, 1894, 175. 

 Tringa gracilis Harting, P. Z. S. 1874, 243, PI. XL. 

 Tringa maritima, Dall and Bannisteu, Trans. Chic. Ac. Sci. 1869, 291 ; Proc. Cal. Ac. Sci. 1874, 



275. 

 Tringa mariUma ptilocnemis, Elliot, N. Am. Sh. Bds. 1895, 72. 

 Tlringa'] m[aritima] ptilocnemys, Elliot, N. Am. Sh. Bds. 1895, 235. 



AlrquatellaJ ptilocnemis, EiDGWAY, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, 1880, 163.— Coues, Key, 1890, 630. 

 Arquaiella ptilocnemis, Nelson, Cruise, Cortoin, 1883, 86. — Stejnkgee, Bull. 29, U. S. N. M. 1885, 



112. 

 Arquatella maritimns ptilocnemis, Shaepb, Cat. B. Br. Mus. XXIV, 1896, 584. 



This bird is unquestionably a good species, and is very distinct in all ijlumages 

 from T. maritimus and T, couesii. My series of G4 specimens, together with Mr. 

 Elliott's and others in the National Museum collection, show this conclusively. Ooni- 

 l>aring adult breeding birds we find that ptilocnemis is the largest, is much the whitest, 

 has a strong rufous tinge across the chest, over most of the head and neck, and always 

 has a black pectoral area. The black, however, varies in diflerent degrees, because in 

 all cases the white feathers of the previous plumage are persistent about the center of 

 tlie breast and down the abdomen, and do not drop until replaced again by similar 

 feathers. The rufous tinge is always found, and is especially marked on some speci- 

 mens. In one, No. 118776, this ochraceous rufous of the edgings of the back and neck 

 feathers extends strongly across the lower neck between the white of the throat and 

 the black pectoral patch. The scapulars are very broadly edged with the same color. 

 In a few specimens the rufous is confined to a slight tinge around the neck and on 

 the edges of the back feathers, but all specimens show it. While the bill is practically 

 straight on most specimens, a few have it slightly decurved near the tip. The white- 

 ness is quite a prominent feature, and is in great contrast to the darker colors of the 

 related forms. As to the causes of the greater whiteness of this species, it may be 

 suggested that it may be due entirely to isolation, with comparative freedom from 

 enemies, and also from competition with related forms.. Ease of acquiring, together 

 with the abundance of food, would also seem to operate. During the summer the 

 adults lead a lazy life. There is abundance of food, easily obtained, and there is very 

 slight cause for activity. They have no competition and no enemies except foxes, from 

 whom it is easy for them to escape. As great activity under contrary conditions tends 



