BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 321 



gling parties that follow the flight of other shore birds which 

 normally come down the Atlantic coast. It appears that the 

 regular fall migration route of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper 

 trends southeast from Alaska to the western shores of Hudson 

 Bay, and from there south through the Mississippi valley 

 region. It moves south rapidly, and appears in Colombia, 

 South America, in September. Apparently it crosses the Gulf 

 of Mexico from Texas, and, reaching Central America, crosses 

 the South American continent southeasterly to Argentina. 

 There are no very recent records of its occurrence on the 

 Atlantic coast south of Long Island, and the older records may 

 be open to doubt. This and the fact that a few records have 

 been made of the species in the Antilles give color to the belief 

 that the individuals of the species which reach the north 

 Atlantic coast put out to sea, following the fall route of some 

 other shore birds to South America. I know of no spring 

 record of this species on the Atlantic coast. It follows the 

 interior route northward. 



The following notes seem to show that the Buff-breasted 

 Sandpiper was once not uncommon here: Not uncommon in 

 markets of Boston in August and September (Nuttall, 1834). 

 With us not a very common bird (Giraud, Long Island, N. Y., 

 1844). Rare spring and autumn (Maynard, eastern Massa- 

 chusetts, 1870). Not abundant on shores of New England, 

 but by no means rare in August and September; seldom seen 

 in spring (Samuels, 1870). Rather uncommon migrant 

 (J. A. Allen, Massachusetts, 1879). 



Formerly it was very abundant in Texas, and still is com- 

 mon there, but decreasing. The reports of its decrease in the 

 west are very impressive. Apparently it is on the way to 

 extinction. 



It is usually a very gentle and confiding bird and pays little 

 attention to the hunter. It is valuable as an insect eater, par- 

 ticularly in the west, but in its pursuit this fact is overlooked 

 and its food value only is considered. Dr. Hatch found it living 

 upon crickets, grasshoppers, ants and their "eggs," and other 

 insects, and on minute mollusks taken from the shores of 

 shallow ponds in the warmest part of the day. 



