TRYNGITES EUFESCENS, BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 507 



the sides of the lower mandible, and all the way iuto the interramal space. In any 

 plumage it may be recognized by the unique coloration of the primaries, which are 

 silvery-gray or white on the inner webs, beautifully and curiously mottled with fine, 

 wavy, black tracery. It has many names, both generic and specific, but appears to 

 have been first described by the voluminous French ornithologist above cited. 



This species I have never yet seen alive. Its habits, as described, 

 appear to be most like those of the Bartramian, in its preference for 

 dry fields and plains, where it feeds upon grasshoppers and other in- 

 sects. In the United States, where it is only known as a migrant, it 

 appears to be nowhere very abundant, and this is particularly the case 

 along the Atlantic coast. But great numbers nest in the Anderson 

 Kiver region, as shown by the large series of eggs in the Smithsonian, 

 and these must pass through the United States along some line of mi- 

 gration, where the species may yet be found in abundance. Dr. Cooper 

 calls it ''common" at Shoalwater Bay, during the migration. Accord- 

 ing to Mr. Giraud, " the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is not a very common 

 bird, though its occurrence is by no means unusual. Almot^t every 

 season a few are observed along the southern shores of Long Island, 

 and during autumn we occasionally find it in our markets. * * * * 

 In August, 1811, Mr. Brasher met with a party of five on the shore of 

 Gowanuus Bay, which number is larger than 1 have seen iu one group. 

 He informs me that they appeared very gentle, allowing him to advance 

 within shooting distance without seeming to notice his presence. At 

 the first discharge of his gun (which procured him three), the surviving 

 two made a short flight over the water, returning in a few minutes to 

 the shore, at a short distance from where they had previously taken 

 wing, which gave him an opportunity of securing the whole number." 



Of the very rare and scarcely known eggs of the Buff- breasted Sand- 

 piper I have examined about a dozen sets in the Smithsonian, all col- 

 lected by Mr. MacFarlane in the Anderson Biver region and along the 

 Arctic coast to the eastward. They are very pointedly pyrilorm. The 

 following measurements indicate the size, shape, and limits of variation: 

 1.50 by 1.03; 1.48 by 1.10; 1.45 by 1.02; 1.10 by 1.01. The ground is 

 clay, sometimes with a slight olivaceous or drab shade, otteuer with a 

 clear grayish cast, of rather pecidiar shade. The markings are ex- 

 tremely bold and sharp, though not heavier than usual. Taking a speci- 

 men in which the markings are most distinct, we find heavy blotches 

 and spots of indeterminate size and shape all over the egg, but largest 

 and most numerous on the major half of the egg, of rich umber brown, 

 deeper or lighter according to the quantity of pigment. Nearest these 

 blotched varieties come the si)lashed ones, in which the markings mass 

 more heavily about the larger end, and are elsewhere splattered over in 

 rather small markings. This is the more frequent i)attern; and in some 

 cases the splashing hides the ground-color at the large end. Other ex- 

 amples arc spotted with rather narrow markings that seem to radiate 

 from the large end, becoming largest and thickest around the greatest 

 diameter of the agg, and being much smaller elsewhere. All the eggs 

 have the usual neutral or stone-gray shell-nuirkings, and in most of 

 them there are at the large end a few si)ots or scrawls ot blackish over 

 all the other markings. According to the labels, the nidilication is not 

 peculiar, the nest being a slight depression of the ground, lined wilh a 

 few dried grasses or leaves. The eggs are four in a majority of instances. 



