Todd : Birds of Erie and Presque Isle. 541 



earliest record being August 13, 1902, and usually is present through 

 most of September, and even until, in one instance, as late as October 

 3 (1895). The season of 1900 for some reason seemed to have been 

 an unfavorable one for this species, as it was not very common in the 

 spring, when it was noted only at the mouth of Mill Creek from May 

 8 to 16, and but one bird was seen in the fall (August 23). More- 

 over, no flocks of any size were observed, single individuals or small 

 parties being the rule. 



68. Pelidna alpina sakhalina. Red-backed Sandpiper. 



Tringa {Pelidna) alpina sakhalina Buturlin, Auk, XXI, 1904, 253. 

 Pelidna alpina sakhalina, A. 0. U. Check-List, Auk, XXI, 1904, 412. 



Quite common as a transient visitor in the fall, but rare in the 

 spring. Some birds believed to have been of this species were noted 

 as early in 1900 as August 22, 27, and 31, in company with other 

 shore-birds, but no others were seen until October 11, when one speci- 

 men was taken. It was observed at frequent intervals on the outside 

 beach up to November 3, the days of greatest movement being October 

 25 and 26, when flocks of considerable size were met with. Single 

 individuals taken on November 15 and 16 had been previously 

 wounded, which may account for the lateness of their stay. All the 

 specimens secured were in full winter plumage. Mr. Bacon's notes 

 on the present species are of great interest as showing its quondam 

 abundance, as well as the reason for the decrease in its numbers. ' ' In 

 former years extensive flights took place about the first of November, 

 upon which occasions bushels of them are said to have fallen to a single 

 gun. During these great flights the flocks were accustomed to follow 

 the outside beach of the Peninsula (having presumably come directly 

 across the lake) to its southeastern extremity, thence crossing over to 

 the sand-beach east of the mouth of Mill Creek, where, after having 

 been sadly depleted by dozens of guns, they would finally rise high in 

 the air and pass southward over the mainland, flock following flock 

 all day long. I know this by hearsay only, but am positive that this 

 is the bird that used to arrive in such numbers late in the fall. On 

 October 29, 1897, I killed fifty-three of these birds out of two flocks, 

 comprising in all perhaps as many more, and this is the nearest ap- 

 proach to a flight that has occurred of late years. Every season, how- 

 ever, numerous small flocks are found, appearing sometimes as early 

 as the first week in October (October 2, 1894; October 3, 1895; 

 October 6, 1891), but more commonly toward the latter part of the 



