10 



NORTH AMERICAN SHOREBIRDS. 



Species that Occur in the United States Only as Migrants, Breeding in the 

 Far North and Wintering to the Southward. 



Red phalarope (Phalaropus fulicarius) . 

 Northern phalarope (Lobipes lobatus). 

 Stilt sandpiper (Micropalama himantopus). 

 Knot ( Tringa canutus) . 

 Pectoral sandpiper (Pisobia maculata). 

 White-rumped sandpiper (Pisobia fusci- 



collis). 

 Baird sandpiper (Pisobia bairdi). 



Hudsonian godwit (Limosa hsemastica) . 

 Buff -breasted sandpiper (Tryngites sub- 



ruficollis). 

 Hudsonian curlew (Numenius hudsoni- 



cus). 

 Eskimo curlew (Numenius borealis). 

 Golden plover (Charadrius dominicus). 

 Surf bird (Aphriza virgata). 



SUMMARY. 



Species that do not breed north of the United States 



Species breeding in the United States and Canada 



Total species breeding in the United States 



Species breeding wholly north of the United States 



Species breeding north of and wintering in the United States 



Species breeding or wintering in the United States ., 



Species occuring in the United States as migrants only 



Total species occurring in. the United States 



Species occurring regularly in Arctic America, but not in the United States. . 



Total species occurring regularly in North America north of Mexico 



European species straggling to Greenland 



Eastern Hemisphere species straggling to North America 



Southern species not ranging north to the United States 



Total species and subspecies in North America 



7 



15 

 22 

 36 

 15 

 37 

 13 

 50 



8 

 58 



5 

 15 



7 

 85 



MIGRATION. 



The shorebirds as a group are among the most wide ranging of 

 migrants. While a few, for example the jacanas, do not migrate at 

 all, most shorebirds migrate more than a thousand miles each season, 

 and many lengthen their journeys to 7,000 miles. The most wonder- 

 ful feature of their migration is the enormous distance covered in a 

 single flight. As explained in the account of the golden plover, many 

 flocks of plover fly without resting from Nova Scotia to northern 

 South America, a distance of about 2,500 miles. Many individuals 

 of other species perform the same flight, notably the Eskimo curlew, 

 while in the case of the Hudsonian godwit and the upland plover 

 the principal place of departure in fall migration is the coast of the 

 United States north of Virginia, and many of the flocks make stops 

 in the Lesser Antilles on their way to South America. 



That the same route is employed by other species is shown by the 

 large number of shorebirds annually visiting the Bermudas. These 

 islands lie about 800 miles off the coast of South Carolina and are 

 in a nearly direct line from southern Nova Scotia to the Lesser Antilles. 

 Years ago, when shorebirds were far more numerous than now, man}^ 

 flocks stopped at the Bermudas in fall migration. The most common 

 species were the pectoral, white-rumped, least, and semipalmated 

 sandpipers, the sanderling, greater yellow-legs, lesser yellow-legs, 

 solitary sandpiper, spotted sandpiper, Hudsonian curlew, semipal- 

 mated plover, turnstone, and Wilson snipe. All of these came in 

 sufficient numbers to show that their visits were not accidental, and 

 evidently they had merely paused a few days on their journey to the 

 Lesser Antilles. The killdeer appeared regularly in November and 



