369 



Contarini, in his ' Catalogo degli Uccelli del Veneto,' states that it occurs at the two seasons of 

 migration on the coasts of the Adriatic; and Mr. Luigi Althammer (Naumannia, 1858, p. 167) 

 says that he examined specimens in the Count's collection which were in full spring plumage; 

 but more recent writers on the ornithology of Italy disbelieve the authenticity of these specimens, 

 and I am inclined to agree with them. Mr. Gatke believes that it has been obtained on 

 Heligoland, and says (Die Vogelw. Helgoland, p. 495) that about the latter half of the thirties 

 Hans Tonnies, a gunner, shot during the month of May, by a small pond on the Upper Plateau, 

 what was described as a Soaltpieper (Totanus hypoleucus), " quite similar to the common 

 species, but having a small round black spot on each of the white feathers of the underside." 

 Tonnies considered it to be a mere variety, as he knew nothing of the Spotted Sandpiper, and 

 disposed of it to a visitor. In May 1847 Claus Aeuckens noticed a small Sandpiper which he 

 described to Mr. Gatke as being " white on the underside, with many black spots in form like 

 the small roundish black spots of the Missel Thrush," and as Aeuckens knew nothing of Totanus 

 macularius, Mr. Gatke believes it to have been that species. 



In America, which is the true home of this Sandpiper, it has a wide range, and is, according 

 to Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway (Water-Birds of N. America, i. p. 30^), " one of the most 

 common as well as most widely distributed species. It is found throughout nearly all North 

 America, in the interior and on the shores of both the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans, breeding 

 wherever found, from Texas to Alaska, and from Florida to Fort Anderson. That it is regular 

 in its occurrence would appear from the fact that Richardson nowhere met with it in the Fur 

 Region, neither in the interior nor on the sea-coast. It is found in Bermuda and in nearly all 

 the West India Islands, breeding in some of them, and is met with in winter in Mexico, Central 

 America, and different parts of South America." 



I found it abundant near San Antonio in Texas in September and October, and shot a single 

 specimen near Matamoros in Mexico in August ; and Mr. White obtained it near the city of 

 Mexico in the winter. Mr. Salvin (Ibis, 1859, p. 230) met with it on the rivers of Guatemala both 

 on the tableland and on the coast in the winter ; Mr. Wyatt observed it near Ocafia in Columbia ; 

 and Frantzius records it (J. f. O. 1859, p. 377) from Costa Rica. It occurs regular on migration 

 in the islands all along the Atlantic coast. Messrs. A. & E. Newton say (Ibis, 1859, p. 257) 

 that it is tolerably common in St. Croix, and probably remains there through the winter; 

 Mr. E. C. Taylor speaks of it (Ibis, 1864, p. 95) as being very abundant in Trinidad, where it 

 was also met with by Leotaud (Ois. Trinidad, p. 461) ; Mr. Lister includes it as occurring in the 

 island of St. Vincent; Gosse records it from Jamaica as being common, arriving late in August 

 and remaining until after the middle of April; Gundlach speaks of it (J. f. O. 1875, p. 325) as 

 found in Cuba on passage in September and May, and he also (J. f. O. 1878, p. 188) states that 

 it is common in Porto Rico after September; Major Wedderburn speaks of it as common in the 

 Bermudas; and Col. Feilden says (Ibis, 1889, p. 496) that it is very common in Barbados, 

 arriving in large numbers in July and August, and adds that he has been assured on good 

 authority that examples may be met with in the island during every month of the year. 



"When I was in New Brunswick this appeared to be the commonest Sandpiper of those that 

 were found there during the summer, and I observed it almost daily. It was by no means shy, but, 

 on the other hand, tame and fearless unless molested. I usually met with it on the banks of 



