BUFF-BEEASTED SAFDPIPEE 73 



coverts are from " hair brown " to " fuscous," tipped with " cinna- 

 mon," whereas in the adult these are brownish black, broadly edged 

 with " cinnamon-buff " ; the inner webs of the primaries, on the 

 under side, are much more finely and closely sprinkled with black 

 than in the adult, which has larger, more widely scattered and hence 

 more conspicuous black spots. This last character probably per- 

 sists through the first year. The postjuvenal molt and the first pre- 

 nuptial molt are accomplished in South America. I have seen no 

 specimens illustrating these. 



Adults have a complete molt, apparently late in the fall or in the 

 winter, the wings being molted last. Doctor Wetmore (1926) shot 

 a male on September 21 that was still in worn breeding plumage. 

 Birds molting primaries have been taken in February and March. 

 Summer and winter plumages are very similar and the sexes are 

 alike, except that the female is much smaller than the male. 



Food. — Professor Rowan (1927) says: 



I am indebted to the Biological Survey at Wasliington for kindly analyzing 

 the contents of 17 stomachs, spring taken. Roughly, 40 per cent consisted 

 of Coleoptera, adults and larvae, and 50 per cent of Diptera, chiefly larvae 

 and pupae. Seeds of Polygonum, Potamogeton, and Eleocharis were present 

 to the extent of 1 per cent. The rest consisted of spider and insect remains. 

 I shall be glad to send a detailed list to anyone who may be interested. 



Behavior. — The same observer writes: 



The bufE-breasted sandpiper, like Bartram's, is a plover in its ways and 

 habits rather than a sandpiper. Even in its coloration it differs radically 

 from the common sandpipers. It is extraordinarily tame and confiding at 

 times. When the mood seizes it, one could without difficulty wipe out every 

 bird of a flock, provided one killed or vv^ounded one with the first shot. The 

 remainder will return again and again to a wounded bird. The noise of the 

 gun seems to have little more than momentary effect. 



Owing to the muddy tone of their plumage, these birds are exceptionally 

 difficult to see on the type of ground that they so habitually frequent. One 

 can easily walk into a flock without knowing it till the birds get up almost 

 under foot. This is made the easier by their habit of " freezing." They stand 

 immobile on being approached, not necessarily crouching, generally the very 

 reverse, but without movement they readily enough escape observation. If 

 they start moving as one gets nearer, it is always on the run. They then 

 carry their necks "craned," scatter widelj', and zig-zag hither and thither 

 rather after the manner of partridges, of which they frequently remind one. 



A flock will seldom rise in unison, but the nearer birds will merely fly over 

 and settle on the remote side of the further ones. Even when the buff-breasts 

 are amongst sandpipers, such as Baird's, Semi-palmateds, etc., five times out 

 of ten they will remain on the spot if the others are scared up. A really large 

 flock is rare. We estimated the number of buff-breasts on a few acres of 

 grass one morning at about 2,000, and we spent several hours in trying to 

 photograph them. They were scattered in clumps in all directions. Although 

 we walked through them from one end to the other more than once, thus 

 tending to herd them, the largest number we were able to put up together 

 was about 150. This constitutes the largest flock we have ever seen. The 



