CHARADRIID.^!. 



60 1 



X. 





.J\'t 





THE BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 



Tringites rufescens (Vieillot). 



An example of this American species was shot near Melbourne in 

 Cambridgeshire, when in company with some Dotterels, early in 

 September 1826 ; while four others have subsequently been obtained 

 in Norfolk, one in Sussex, four in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands, 

 one at Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel, and one at Burgh marsh 

 in Cumberland in September 1876. Almost all the above occurrences 

 have been in autumn ; but a male is said to have been killed at 

 Formby, Lancashire, in May 1829. As regards a supposed Caith- 

 ness specimen mentioned by R. Gray, Messrs. Harvie-Brown and 

 Buckley merely remark that the species is on Dr. Sinclair's list. 

 An example shot in the county is in the Dublin Museum, and two 

 (one of which is now in the Belfast Museum) were killed in the 

 People's Park of that city, in October 1864. 



A bird obtained on Heligoland on May 9th 1847 is in the 

 Gatke collection ; and Drs. Fatio and Studer state that one has been 

 procured on Lake Leman, in Switzerland. In summer the Buff- 

 breasted Sandpiper inhabits the Arctic and sub-Arctic portions 

 of the American continent. A female obtained by the late Dr. 

 Rae on June 14th at Repulse Bay, in the south of Melville 

 Peninsula, is in the British Museum, as are also examples from 

 Fort Simpson ; many sets of eggs were taken by Mr. MacFarlane 

 on the Barren grounds of the Anderson River district, and Mr. 

 Murdoch met with this species nesting plentifully at Point Barrow 



