THE BIRDS OF JAN MAYEN ISLAND. 13 



this species appears to consist in the feathers of the upper 

 side becoming almost black instead of grey, with not very con- 

 spicuous whitish or rust-coloured edges. 



Tringa schinzii, Brehm. — Seen on Jan Mayen in large 

 numbers at the end of May, June, and beginning of July, mostly 

 in companies of about fifteen, with other allied species. In 

 autumn, towards the end of August, this bird appeared mostly in 

 pairs or in small flocks, and remained on the island until the 

 middle of September. It was not at all shy, and formed a much 

 appreciated dish on our table. T. schinzii could always be dis- 

 tinguished at a distance from Tringa cinclus by its yellower back, 

 and by its markedly smaller size. According to Holboll and 

 Paulsen, T. schinzii breeds in Greenland in the Julianshaab 

 district ('Fauna Gronlands,' p. 89). [Tringa schinzii, Brehm, 

 is regarded by British ornithologists as a small race of the 

 Dunlin (T. cinclus, Linn.).— W. E. C] 



Tringa maritima, Briinnich, Purple Sandpiper. — The first 

 observed on Jan Mayen appeared at the end of August, and in 

 September, and during the autumn migration sojourned partly in 

 pairs and partly in small companies. This species of Tringa 

 appeared on the island in the spring migration at the end of May 

 and in June, and was to be seen, like most of the allied species, 

 on the shore, and more especially in the neighbourhood of the 

 mouths of brooks. This species winters generally in northern 

 latitudes, and travels only to a small extent into southern regions 

 — exceptionally, as Finsch indicates (n. Deutsche Nordpolar- 

 fahrt, p. 207), as far as the Cape of Good Hope. 



Calidris arenaria, L., Sanderling. — This bird appeared in 

 autumn, at the end of September, mostly in companies of from 

 three to six individuals, and was to be seen up to the middle 

 of October : during the spring migration, although not so 

 numerous as the allied species, it visited the island in May and 

 June. It was so tame as to be easily surprised by the Arctic 

 Fox. Of this species, which breeds in the Arctic regions 

 of the New and Old World, a specimen was killed in the month 

 of June, which differs from the others in its smaller size, and 

 carries the youthful plumage as represented by Naumann (plate 

 182, fig. 3). As in the month of June no young birds could be 

 expected to be met with, the one obtained must be looked upon 

 as a bird which had remained behind from the previous year. 



