BIRDS OF 



In theearl}- fall, I have several times met with these interest- 

 ing little birds, running among the short grass on the sandy 

 knolls, north of the canal at the Beach, but have not seen them 

 elsewhere. 



They are said to breed in high lattitudes, a dozen sets of 

 eggs in the Smithsonian Institution, having all been collected 

 by Mr. Macfarlane in the Anderson River region, and along 

 the Arctic coast. 



With this record before me, I was not a little surprised to 

 receive from Dr. G. A. Macallum, of Dunnville, Ont., a notice 

 of his having found a nest of the species near his home, a few 

 miles back from the north shore of Lake Erie. In answer to my 

 request for further particulars, I received a prompt and full 

 repl}^ from which the following is an extract : " About the 

 Buff-breasted Sandpiper ; I find on turning up my notes that it 

 was taken June lo, 1879, when two of the eggs were hatched 

 and the other one chipped, which however I was able to make a 

 good specimen of, and it is now in my cabinet. 



The female was shot, and with the two little fellows, stands in 

 my collection. The yoimg are fawn-colored, with black spots 

 over the whole body ; the egg measures 1-25 x 95, is pyriform 

 in shape ; color, ground, buff, thickly covered w^ith dark blotches 

 of two shades of brown, making the general appearance very 

 dark — almost as dark as the egg of Wilson's Snipe. 



The nest was placed between two tussocks of grass on the 

 ground, a short distance from the ban^^- of the river where the 

 ground is tolerably high, and where it is the custom to cut 

 marsh hay. The nest was of a decided shape, and was com- 

 posed of a fine moss or weed which grows between the tussocks 

 of marsh grass. This is the only case of its breeding here to 

 my knowledge." 



This species not being common anywhere, there is not much 

 opportunity for obtaining positive information regarding its 

 distribution during the breeding season. It may be that the 

 case referred to by Dr. Macallum is an isolated one ; but it may 

 yet be found that, like its near relative Bartram's Sandpiper, the 



