148 CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF ALASKA. 



247. Eureunetes ocoidentalis. (Lawr.). Western Sandpiper. 



The Western Sandpiper arrives at Saint Michael's by the middle of May. My earliest record 

 was the 14th of May, 1875. Like many other of the limicoline birds its movements depend much 

 on the opening of the slimy pools which it frequents. It is often associated with P. lobatus. 



About the first of June it begins to build its nest among the dry mosses found on the low 

 grounds; a slight depression in the moss, containing a few feathers. Four or five eggs are laid. 

 The male assists in incubating, as the first specimen I obtained was a male, which fluttered from the 

 nest as though he was wounded. His fluttering wings, low peeping note, and limping gait caused 

 me to detect the nest almost between my feet. 



While the female sits on the nest the male is constantly hovering over her, fluttering his 

 wings with rapid strokes and uttering a peeping trill the entire while. 



The young are hatched by the first of July and are able to fly in three weeks. I am not aware 

 that more than one brood is hatched in a season. 



By the first week in August these birds resort to the tide-swamps and muddy places along 

 the beach. 



They depart to the southward by the middle of September. There is great diversity in the 

 length of the bill of this species. The bill is dark with lighter base. The iris black ; tarsi dark. 

 The males average smaller measurement than the females. 



This Sandpiper is abundant in all the Aleutian Islands. 



At Atkha and Amchitka it is extremely abundant. 



At Saint Michael's it probably outnumbers any other wader individually. 



250. Limosa lapponica baueri (Nauin.). Pacific Godivit. 



The Pacific Godwit arrives at Saint Michael's about the first week in June. In this locality it 

 frequents the banks of the numerous intersecting streams of the lowlands, and is especially abun- 

 dant along the "canal." 



This species probably breeds here, as it was observed during that season, although 1 did not 

 obtain the eggs of this bird. 



This Godwit is found on the Aleutian Islands in the latter part of May as it is on its way to 

 the northward. On Atkha Island I obtained three specimens. They were on the sandy beach of 

 the west side of Kazan Bay. They remain but a few days, and are probably stragglers from the 

 main body of their kind. 



At Amchitka I saw four of this species on May 24, 1881. They were in Constantine Harbor of 

 this island. 



I do not think they breed on any of the Aleutian Islands. 



The flesh of this bird is excellent, being quite as large in body as the Green winged Teal. 



255. Totanus flavipes (Gmel.). Yellow-legs. 



The Yellow legs is only a straggler at Saint Michael's, and was seen only on two occasions on 

 the beach in the early part of June. 



I obtained a specimen at Fort Yukon, where it is not common. On some parts of the Yukon 

 River it is said to be common, but not so according to my own observation. 



I saw a specimen of this Snipe at Nushagak, on Bristol Bay, in the month of June, 1878. It 

 was running along the muddy edge of the river. I had only time to identify it as it flew, and that 

 before I got within distance to'shoot it. 



It does not occur on the Aleutian Islands that I am aware of. 



259. Heteeactitis incanus (Gmel.). Wandering Tattler. 



According to my own experience I found the Wandering Tattler to be a rare bird in all parts 

 of the Territory visited by me. 



At Saint Michael's the bird arrives by the first of June and remains until the earlier frosts of the 

 middle of September. It appeared to prefer the less frequented portions of the rocky shores where 

 the crevices and rifts abound in the shelving rocks jutting from the edges of the islands and points. 



