259 



THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 



-fTRINGA PECTORALIS, BoilCtp. 



PLATE CCCXXIX.— Male and Female. 



This Sandpiper is not uncommon along the shores of our Eastern States 

 in autumn and winter. It has also lately been found in England, and I have 

 seen a specimen of it in the possession of William Yarrell, Esq. of Lon- 

 don, who received it from a person who had shot it not far from the metro- 

 polis. I first met with this species in the immediate vicinity of Dennisville, 

 in the State of Maine, feeding on the rocky bars of the river at low water. 

 In the neighbourhood of Boston it is more abundant than elsewhere. Mr. 

 Nuttall states, that "they are killed in abundance on the shores of Cohas- 

 set, and other parts of Massachusetts Bay, and are brought in numbers to 

 the market of Boston, being very fat and well-flavoured." "They arrive," 

 he adds, "in flocks about the close of August, and continue there, as well as 

 in New Jersey, till the month of September. In some instances solitary in- 

 dividuals have been killed in the marshes of Charles river, in Cambridge, 

 about the 22nd of July; these were in company with flocks of small Sandpi- 

 pers ( T. Wilsonii), but whether pairs may perhaps breed in the neighbour- 

 ing marshes or not, we have not had the means of ascertaining. While here, 

 they feed on small coleoptera, larvae, and the common green Ulva latissima, 

 as well as some species of fucus or sea-weed, on which they become fat. 

 They utter a low plaintive whistle when started, very similar to that of other 

 species. Like the Snipe they seem fond of damp meadows and marshes, and 

 solitary individuals are often surprised by the sportsman in the manner of 

 that bird." 



I have observed that the flight of the Pectoral Sandpiper resembles that of 

 the Knot, and is firm, rapid, and well sustained. It skims rather low over 

 the surface of the water or the land, and at times shoots high up into the air, 

 propelling itself with double rapidity and in perfect silence. It runs with 

 great agility, and probes the sand or wet earth, immersing its bill up to the 

 base. I never saw this species in any part of the interior. Its places of 

 resort during the breeding season, and the changes of plumage which it 

 undergoes, are unknown. 



