Illustration of the Christmas sandpiper, or Kiritimati sandpiper (Prosobonia cancellata, 1), a small shorebird. It became extinct some time in the first half of the 19th century. It was endemic to Christmas Island (now Kiritimati). It is known solely from a single contemporaneous illustration (by William Wade Ellis), and a description by William Anderson, both made during the third circumnavigation voyage commanded by Captain James Cook, which visited the atoll of Christmas Island between 24 December 1777 and 2 January 1778 2. The Tahiti sandpiper, or Tahitian sandpiper, (Prosobonia leucoptera, 2) is an extinct member of the large wader family Scolopacidae that was endemic to Tahiti in French Polynesia. Illustration by George Edward Lodge. From 'Extinct Birds: an attempt to unite in one volume a short account of those birds which have become extinct in historical times: that is, within the last six or seven hundred years: to which are added a few which still exist, but are on the verge of extinction' by Baron, Lionel Walter Rothschild, published in 1907.