A Pectoral Si iper was s ar Filey, in the East Riding of Yorkshire ; another at the Tees mouth, near
A Pectoral Sandpiper was shot ne M5 g

and a third in a grass-field, at Coatham, near the same place. It is also said to have been met with
and in June 1830 the late D. W. Mitchell, then of Penzance, but after-

‘cal Society of London, sent to Mr. Yarrell “a coloured drawing

Redcar ;
about Gwyllen Vale, near Falmouth ;
wards the well-known Secretary of the Zoolog
with measurements, of a specimen shot by bimself on the 27th of the previous

and a fully detailed description,
eed within a few yards of the water on the rocky shore of

month, while the bird was resting on some sea-w
Annet, one of the uninhabited islands of Scilly. On the following day another example was seen, but became
so wild after an unsuccessful shot, that it flew off to another island, and escaped altogether. The close
accordance of the specimen obtained with the description of Tringa pectoralis in the fourth part of
Temminck’s ‘Manual’ led Mr. Mitchell to a true conclusion as to the species and its novelty and interest in
this country.”

Having thus given all that is known to me respecting the Pectoral Sandpiper as seen in England, I
proceed to furnish extracts from those who have had opportunities of observing it in its proper home and
in other countries.

Mr. Nuttall says :—‘* This conspicuous species of Sandpiper, first detected by Mr. Say, is by no means
uncommon in various parts of the United States, migrating north and perhaps west to breed, as they are
common in the remote plains of the Mississippi, and retire at the approach of winter to the southern limits
of the Union, being met with at this season also in the West Indies. They are killed in abundance on the
shores of Cohasset, and other parts of Massachusetts Bay, and are brought in numbers to the markets of
Boston, being very fat and well flavoured. They arrive in flocks, about the close of August, and continue
there, as well as in New Jersey, till the month of September. In some instances, solitary individuals have
been killed in the marshes of Charles River, in Cambridge, about the 22nd of July. While here, they
feed on small coleoptera-larve, and the common green Ulva latissima, as well as on some species of Fucus
or seaweed, on which they become fat. They utter a low plaintive whistle when started, very similar to that
of other species. Like the Snipe, they seem fond of damp meadows and marshes ; and solitary individuals
are often surprised by the sportsman in the manner of that bird.”

«This Sandpiper,” says Audubon, “ is more abundant in the neighbourhood of Boston than elsewhere. I
have observed that the flight of the Pectoral Sandpiper resembles that of the Knot, and is firm, rapid, and
well sustained. It skims rather low over the surface of the water or the land, and at times shoots high up
into the air, propelling itself with double rapidity and in perfect silence. It runs with great agility, and
probes the sand or wet earth, immersing its bill up to the base.”

Mr. Edward Newton met with this bird occasionally in St. Croix, one of the West-India Islands, in 1858,
after the 14th of September, and obtained some examples, but never saw more than two in company; and
his brother, Mr. Alfred Newton, remarks that ‘‘specimens of this species ditfer remarkably in size, as is
probably the case with many of the Zringine ; and it is possible that, in the present instance, it may be
found that these differences in size are accompanied by a constant variation in plumage, and, perhaps, also
in nesting-locality, so as to form races which should be always carefully distinguished from one another, as
is the case with the smaller Dunlins of Europe and the Dunlin of America.”

Mr. Swinhoe observed the Z. pectoralis in great abundance in the marshes between Takoo and Pekin, in
North China, during the month of August, and also procured it at Amoy.

Entire upper parts brownish black ; all the feathers edged and tipped with ashy and brownish red ; rump and
upper tail-coverts black ; some of the outer feathers of the latter edged with white; line from the bill over
the eye asby white ; throat, abdomen, under wing-coverts, axillary feathers, and under tail-coverts white ;
front of the breast and neck ashy white; all the feathers darker at the base, and with partially concealed or
pointed spots of brownish black ; quills brownish black ; shaft of the first primary white, of the others brown ;
secondaries tipped and edged with white; tertiaries edged with dull reddish yellow; bill and feet dark
greenish black,

The Plate represents three specimens of this bird, of the natural size, the centre one being in the plumage
of summer.