590 bartram's sandpiper. 



Wright, who afterwards presented it to the Museum at Florence. 

 In America this species is generally distributed over the United 

 States from Pennsylvania and Illinois westward to the great plains at 

 the foot of the Rocky Mountains, where it is known as the ' Prairie 

 Pigeon ' ; while northward it is met with in Canada — being very 

 abundant on the plains of Saskatchewan, and has even been found 

 breeding at Fort Yukon in Alaska, within the Arctic circle. It has 

 also been recorded from Colville Bay, British Columbia, though 

 otherwise unknown to the west of the 'great divide,' On the spring 

 migration vast flocks pass through Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota 

 and Dakota ; while the return passage southward commences as 

 early as July and continues during the autumn ; extending to the 

 Bermudas, the Southern States, Mexico, the West Indies, and 

 throughout tropical America down to Buenos Ayres on the east side, 

 and Chili on the west. 



Hilly grass-lands are the favourite haunts of this bird, for 

 which reason it is known in the United States as the Upland-, 

 Field-, or Grass-Plover. The nest is a mere hollow — often in a 

 ploughed field — with only a few grass stems or leaves to keep the 

 eggs from the damp soil ; these, 4 in number, and laid early in June, 

 are pinkish clay-colour blotched with pale purple and umber-brown : 

 average measurements i"8 by i'35 in. Only one brood is reared in 

 the year, and the young are somewhat helpless and clumsy. The 

 note is a soft mellow whistle, whence the bird derives its Louisiana 

 name of ' Papabot.' The food, consisting of beetles, grasshoppers 

 and other insects, small snails, earth-worms Szc, appears to be very 

 fattening, and in autumn the bird is much prized by epicures. 



The adult in summer has the head, neck and breast pale rufous, 

 with black markings which assume the form of arrow-heads on the 

 lower breast ; chin, orbits, belly and vent white ; upper parts 

 streaked and mottled with black and white on a reddish-brown 

 ground ; inner webs of primaries conspicuously barred ; tail— long 

 and wedge-shaped when closed — of a pale orange-brown barred with 

 black, the middle feathers having dusky centres ; under surface of 

 the wings barred with black and white. Length 12 in. ; wing 675 in. 

 The female is slightly larger than the male. The winter-plumage is 

 rather paler ; and immature birds have the feathers of the back 

 more margined with rufous-buff. It will be observed that the tail is 

 barred as in Totaniis, and not plain as in Tringa. 



