SCOLOPACID.E. 



587 



-01 



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THE BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 

 Trvncu'tes 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, recorded by 

 Messrs. Macpherson and Duckworth, at Burgh marsh in Cumber- 

 land in September 1876. All the above occurrences have been in 

 autumn ; but a male is said to have been killed at Formby, Lan- 

 cashire, in May 1829. As regards a supposed Caithness specimen 

 mentioned by Gray, Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Buckley merely 

 remark significantly that the species is on Dr. Sinclair's list ! An 

 example shot near Dublin is in the Museum of that city, and 

 two (one of which I have examined) were killed in the People's 

 Park, Belfast, in October 1864. The only authenticated instance 

 in Europe — beyond the British Islands — is that of a bird obtained 

 on Heligoland on May 9th 1847 and now in the collection of Mr. 

 Gatke. 



In summer the Buff-breasted Sandpiper inhabits the Arctic 2nd 

 sub-Arctic portions of the American continent. A female obtained 

 by 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 



