Three specimens of this Asiatic sandpiper have been taken in the Pribilof Islands; the first was secured on St. Paul Island, October 4, 1911, by M. C. Marsh; the other two were taken by G. Dallas Hanna, on the same island, September 2, 1917, and September 17, 1919. These constitute the only North American records. It is not easily distinguished in life from the wandering tattler and so may have occurred much oftener on our extreme western coasts.

Dr. Leonard Stejneger (1885), who took an adult male on Bering Island, in the Commanders, May 28, 1882, devotes considerable space to showing that this is a species distinct from incanus; but some recent writers have treated it as a subspecies. The principal differences are that brevipes is somewhat smaller, has a shorter nasal groove, and has the tarsus scutellated instead of reticulated at the back; the belly and under tail coverts are pure white in all plumages, whereas in incanus these parts are barred in the nuptial plumage; and the upper tail coverts, which are nearly uniform gray in incanus; are distinctly barred with white. The structural differences would seem to warrant specific rank.

The Polynesian tattler is supposed to breed in eastern Siberia, from Lake Baikal to Kamchatka, but, so far as I know, its nest has never been found and nothing is known about its nesting habits, eggs, or young.

Plumages.—Except for the specific characters outlined above the plumages and molts are similar to those of the wandering tattler. In the juvenal plumage the feathers of the upper parts are notched with light buff or white; the upper tail coverts are tipped and irregularly barred with the same colors; the upper breast and flanks are suffused with light gray, more or less mottled on the chest; the tail feathers and wing coverts are tipped or notched or barred with pale buff or white; they are otherwise like winter adults.

This plumage is worn until September, when the body plumage, some of the tail feathers, and some of the wing coverts are molted, to produce the first winter plumage, which can be distinguished from the adult only by the retained tail feathers and wing coverts. In some birds a partial prenuptial molt produces a plumage which is nearly adult, but in others this molt is suppressed and a molt into the adult winter plumage comes later.

Adults have a complete postnuptial molt between July and January, and a partial prenuptial molt, involving the body plumage, the tail and some of the wing coverts, scapulars, and tertials.

Behavior.—The habits, and probably the food, of the Polynesian tattler are apparently similar to those of our American bird. Doctor Hanna (1920) says:

I had an opportunity to observe this bird for a while with two wandering tattlers in view at the time. The actions of the two species were practically the same. They feed very close to the sea on rocky shores and when disturbed fly lazily, rarely more than 100 yards. The wandering tattlers on this occasion appeared perceptibly larger than the Polynesian and the notes of the two were different. The latter uttered an irregular screech not of the same intensity or pitch, whereas the former gave its usual call, a series of 6 to 10 individual notes uttered in the same pitch and rapid succession, but each of shortening duration.

Winter.—This tattler migrates southward in winter through the Kurile Islands and Japan to the Malay Archipelago, the Philippines, and Australia. W. B. Alexander (1926) says of it in North Queensland:

This was the commonest species of sandpiper on the beaches at Cairns and Yarrabah early in September, feeding in small parties. The first were noted on September 1. They are easily recognized by their gray plumage and yellow legs, though the latter are not so brightly colored as those of the two species known in America as yellowlegs.

DISTRIBUTION

Range.—Eastern Asia, Melanesia, and Australia; casual on the Pribilof Islands.

The Polynesian tattler breeds in eastern Siberia, from Lake Baikal to Kamchatka; in migration it passes through China, Japan, and the Philippine Islands to winter quarters in the Malay Archipelago and northern Australia (Queensland).

Casual records.—This species has been detected in North America on three occasions, all on St. Paul Island, of the Pribilof group, Alaska (October 4, 1911, September 2, 1917, and September 17, 1919).