CLARK: LESSER ANTILLEAN BIRDS. 
251 
Note.— Probably M. scolopaceus also occurs in these islands, although there 
are no published records. Dr. Sharpe, in the Catalogue of birds in the British 
museum, does not distinguish between these two birds, but puts all the West 
Indian specimens under M. griseus. 
Micropalama himantopus (Bonap.). Cue ; Stilt Sand¬ 
piper. — Col. Feiltlen says: “Arrives with the Yellow Legs in 
July, and continues to pass all through August, and generally into 
the middle of September, when the flights cease, but stragglers 
drop in at intervals till October. This bird is easily attracted by 
the imitation of its call-note, and the flocks are very compact, so 
that at times many are brought down at one discharge of a gun. 
They feed on the edges of fresh-water swamps, and do not alight 
on the dry meadows nor on the sea-beach. The flights only 
remain on the island a few hours.” 
This bird visits the Grenadines and Grenada during the migra¬ 
tions, but is not very common. It has not been recorded from St. 
Vincent. 
Tringa canutus Linn. Knot. — Schomburgk gives this species 
the local name of “Mopus.” It is a rare visitor to Barbados. Dr. 
Manning (’96, p. 372) in 1886 shot one on December 7, two on the 
17th, and three on the 27th. Col. Feilden has one obtained Sep¬ 
tember 6, 1888. It has not been recorded from the other islands. 
Actodromas maculata (Yieill.). Chirp; October Chirp; 
Pectoral Sandpiper. — Col. Feilden writes: “The Pectoral 
Sandpiper commences to arrive in July and August, increasing in 
numbers till October, when they usually appear in immense flights; 
a few stragglers pass over as late as the early part of November. 
This bird on its arrival in the island frequents flooded and marshy 
spots where the grass is short, likewise feeding on ploughed lands. 
The Barbadian sportsmen, many of whom have the most discrimi¬ 
nating ear for the notes of the various migratory birds, consider 
that there is a difference between the notes of the smaller and 
earlier arrivals, which they designate ‘ Chirps,’ and those of the 
later arrivals, which are called ‘ October Chirps ’; these are, as a 
rule, larger and finer looking birds, but I think it is merely that with 
this species the immature precede the adult on the southward 
migration. Mr. Massiah has drawn my attention to a habit of this 
O %J 
bird which I have not previously seen noticed; when reaching the 
ground and alighting from passage, all the individuals in the flight 
