6o2 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 



in Northern Alaska, though on the Yukon and southwards to Sitka 

 it appears to be uncommon. Mr. E. W. Nelson found it rather 

 numerous on August ist 1880 on the north coast of Siberia to 

 the west of Koliuchin Bay, and says that the birds were evidently 

 on their breeding-grounds there ; while Middendorff has recorded 

 an example from the Sea of Okhotsk, shot on June 30th. On 

 migration it is found throughout the United States, though irregularly 

 and rather sparsely in the north-east ; becoming more plentiful in 

 Louisiana, and southward to IMexico. It visits the Bermudas, Cuba, 

 Barbados, Trinidad, and probably other islands in the West Indies, 

 passing the winter in South America, down to Eastern Peru and 

 Argentina. 



Mr. Murdoch notes the arrival at Point Barrow as from June 6th 

 to 8th ; the birds frequented the drier portions of the tundras, and 

 deposited their eggs, 4 in number, in a shallow depression lined 

 with a little moss. When at Washington, I had the pleasure of 

 inspecting the superb series obtained by Mr. MacFarlane, and 

 certainly the eggs of few Waders present such beauty or variety ; 

 the prevailing ground-colour is pale buff or olive, the underlying 

 markings are lavender-grey, and the blotches rich reddish-brown 

 to black : measurements 1-45 by i in. Six examples are figured in 

 Poynting's ' Eggs of Limicote.' As a rule the species is remarkably 

 quiet, even at the season of courtship, though at times two males will 

 meet and go through a performance of sparring or showing-off, while 

 a solitary bird may often be seen walking about with one wing extended 

 upwards in the air. Early in August the migration southward takes 

 place; and as the food consists of beetles, grasshoppers and other 

 insects, which are plentiful in autumn, the bird becomes remarkably 

 fat and is much esteemed for the table. The note is a faint tweet. 



The Buff-breasted Sandpiper may easily be recognized by the 

 beautiful black marblings on both sides of the inner webs of the 

 primaries and secondaries as well as on the under wing-coverts : 

 these markings being much more pronounced in adults than in the 

 young. The upper parts are buffish-brown mottled with black, a 

 slight greenish tinge showing on the tips of the primaries and on 

 the central tail-feathers, the other tail-feathers being barred towards 

 the tips ; under-parts rufous-buff, with a few black spots on the throat 

 and sides of the breast ; axillaries white. In the young the feathers 

 of the upper parts are broadly edged with dull white, the under- 

 parts are paler, and the spots are smaller. Length 8 in. (bill -9), 

 wing 5-25 in. Superficially the bird is not unlike a Ruff, though 

 much smaller than even a Reeve. 



