1 884.] 
^Nelson on f/fe Pectoral Sandpiper. 
219 
THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE PECTORAL 
SANDPIPER (. ACTODROMAS MACULATA). 
BY E. W. NELSON. 
During my residence in Alaska I found this Sandpiper — the 
E-a-b 6 uk-ki-iig-i-shu-i-a-guk of the natives of Alaska — to be 
extremely common at the mouth of the Yukon River, where the 
low grassy flats afford it a much frequented breeding ground. 
It arrives on the shores of Bering’s Sea, near St. Michael’s, 
from the 15th to the 25th of May, and, after lingering about wet 
spots where the green herbage just begins to show among the 
universal browns of the tundra, they pair and seek nesting places. 
It is a common but never very abundant bird near St. Michael’s 
during both migrations, but it is rare there in the breeding 
season. This is difficult to account for, as the bird is extremely 
common at the latter period on the low flat islands in the Yukon 
Delta not far to the south, and it is also common at other points 
on the coast. Dali found it at Plover Bay, East Siberia, and I 
found it common on the north coast of Siberia, the last of July, 
1881, where, like the Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, it was evidently 
upon its breeding ground. Flocks of these Sandpipers arrive on 
the east coast of Bering’s Sea before the ground is entirely free 
from snow, and during September, in company with A. acu- 
minata , are numerous about small brackish pools and the banks 
of tide creeks. October, with its frosty nights and raw unpleas- 
ant days, soon thins their ranks, until by the 10th or'i2th the last 
one has gone. 
The last of May, 1879, I pitched my tent on a lonely island in 
the Yukon Delta and passed the several following weeks in 
almost continual physical discomfort, owing to the rain and 
snowstorms which prevailed ; however, I look back with 
pleasure upon the time passed here among the various waterfowl; 
when every day contributed new and strange scenes to my pre 
vious experience. 
The night of May 24 I lay wrapped in my blanket, and from 
under the raised flap of the tent looked out over as dreary a 
cloud-covered landscape as can be imagined. The silence was 
unbroken save by the tinkle and clinking of the disintegrating ice 
in the rivers, and at intervals by the wild notes of some restless 
Loon, which arose in a hoarse, reverberating cry and died away 
in a strange gurgling sound. As my eyelids began to droop and 
the scene to become indistinct, suddenly a low, hollow, booming 
note fell ujron my ear and sent my thoughts back to a spring morn- 
ing in Northern Illinois, and to the loud vibrating tones of the 
Prairie Chicken. Again the sound arose nearer and more 
distinct, and with an effort I brought myself back to the reality 
989. Pectoral Sandpiper [Tringa maculata] in Dumbartonshire. By 
J. E. Harting. Ibid., April, 1883, p. 177. — A specimen killed Nov. 24, 
