THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER 



THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER. 



Tringa maculata, Vieillot. 

 Plate 65. 



This American species, which visits our shores more often than any other 

 wanderer from the Western World, has been recorded about fifty times in the 

 British Islands, ten of these having occurred in the Isles of Scilly, which seem to 

 have a strong attraction for American waders. 



The Pectoral Sandpiper breeds in the Arctic regions of North America, and 

 winters in the southern part of that continent, ranging as far as Patagonia. The 

 nest is placed on the ground amongst grass, and contains four eggs, either buffish 

 or pale greenish-brown in ground-colour, blotched with deep warm brown. 



The food consists of insects, tiny shell-fish, etc., and also, according to Howard 

 Saunders, of sea-weed. Various authors have referred to the remarkable display 

 performed by the male during the breeding season, which seems peculiar to this 

 species. Inflating his throat, he utters deep reverberating notes, sometimes 

 delivered in the air, sometimes on the ground. The sexes are alike in plumage. 

 The bird represented in the plate was drawn from a specimen obtained at Buenos 

 Aires, Argentina, in winter plumage, kindly lent by Lord Rothschild. 



An example of the Siberian Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa acuminata (Horsfield), 

 was obtained at Breydon, Norfolk, in August 1892, and another is said to have 

 been taken near Yarmouth in September 1848. This Sandpiper breeds in North- 

 eastern Asia, and migrates southwards in winter, when it visits Japan and China, 

 ranging as far as Australia and New Zealand. 



In general the colour of the upper parts in this bird is more rufous than in the 

 other just described, and the tail feathers are more pointed. 



BAIRD'S SANDPIPER. 



Tringa bairdi (Coues). 

 Plate 65. 



Baird's Sandpiper is another rare American visitor to Great Britain. The first 

 was obtained in Sussex in October 1900, the next in Norfolk in September 1903, a 

 third on St. Kilda, Outer Hebrides, in September 191 1, while two more were taken 



31 



