RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



Among the Buff-breasted Sandpipers. 



An unusually good clay's collecting is not 

 easily forgotten, and especialh' when sev- 

 eral new species have been obtained. The 

 following is the record of Maj' 22, 1882, at 

 Vermillion, Dak. : 



At the outset, and before passing the 

 limits of the town, I added a new bird to 

 my list of captures, an Arkansas Fl^'catcher, 

 or Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticcdis. 

 The capture of a bird never before seen 

 alive usually puts a naturalist in good 

 spirits, so that while traversing several 

 miles we were quite satisfied to pick up an 

 occasional Bartram's Sandpiper, or Yellow- 

 headed Blackbird. Oui" rendezvous was a 

 slough — pronounced in the West slew — eight 

 miles distant. Shortly after reaching it, a 

 •whirring of wings over m^' head caused me 

 to look up, and a moment later I was the 

 happ3' possessor of a fine pair of Hudson- 

 ian Godwits, or Ring-tailed Marlin, Li- 

 mosa haemastka, second new capture. They 

 were so fat that both were burst open on 

 the breast by the fall. Another Western 

 Kingbird was next added, and a third pur- 

 sued, but not captured, because at this 

 juncture a flock of birds flew by, which 

 were immediately recognized as Buff- 

 breasted Sandpipers, Tryngites mfescens. 

 They alighted in a newly ploughed field and 

 one was obtained, making the third new 

 capture. The balance of the flock were 

 hunted for, but vainly. 



It being noon, we now sought a ravine 

 in which to eat our dinner, for Dakota is, 

 or should be, famous for high winds. While 

 at our repast, hist ! and about a hundred 

 Golden Plover went over our heads so 

 quickly, it was useless to attempt to shoot. 

 Then a second and third hist ! in quick suc- 

 cession, and two more flocks had passed. The 

 Golden Plover fl}^ very swiftly and but a 

 few yards from the ground. Scarcely was 

 our lunch over than a large flock of Buff- 

 breasted Sandpipers went b}', and we ran 

 up the side of the ravine and saw them alight 

 on a piece of newly burnt ground about two 

 hundred yards awa^-. When we reached 

 the spot nothing was to be seen of them, 

 but soon awa}' thej' went from all about us. 

 Upon their alighting, we marked them 

 down as closely as possible, and when within 

 about two gun-shots, stopped for a short 

 time, when the birds, gaining confidence, 

 began feeding. When two or three were 



in range, we moved on and the birds 

 stopped, and keeping our eyes riveted upon 

 them until within shot, dropped them. 

 Leaving my companion, who had no gun 

 but a large basket, to pick up the birds, I 

 noted where the flock dropped down, and hur- 

 ried to the spot. This time they were in a low 

 grassy place, where there was an inch or 

 two of water, and clustered better, enab- 

 ling me to pick four sitting and two 

 fl3ing. Here I threw down ray hat, and, 

 following the flock to another moist place, 

 killed three or four more, which I picked 

 up, and lo ! they were Pectoral Sandpiper, 

 Adodromas macidata^ as were also the 

 previous six, but the first were Buff-breasts. 

 It was not till after killing sixteen Pecto- 

 rals that we discovered the Buff-breasts did 

 not visit damp places, which the Pectorals 

 always did. At the report of the gun, all 

 the birds within two hundred to three hun- 

 dred yards would rise, fly around, inter- 

 mingle, then divide, and each visit its pecu- 

 liar feeding-place, ^nd it was but natural to 

 follow the largest flock, or the one which 

 alighted neai*est. A flock of large Plover 

 were now espied coming, which flew near 

 enough to enable us to drop two, but one, 

 although marked down, could not be found, 

 but was captured about half a mile away, 

 two hours later. The balance of the after- 

 noon was spent hunting the Buff-breasts, un- 

 j til our cartridges were well-nigh exhausted, 

 I and we had few left, except 4* and 6^ 

 ! With the last charges of fine shot three 

 Chestnut-collared Longspurs, Plectrophanes 

 ' ornatus, were secured, fourth new cap- 

 ture. The sk}- being overcast and rain 

 threatening, we moved homeward. Buff- 

 ; breasts were then literally swarming, and 

 flying from before us constantly. 



We left the prairie with two baskets full 

 of birds. Just before reaching town we 

 found a fine Bittern, evidently just dead, 

 which had probabl}' died of a wound re- 

 ceived a few days before. The number of 

 birds obtained was sixty-four, of which 

 twenty eight were Buff-breasts. We also 

 took three eggs that were just hatching from 

 a Mallard's nest, from which we obtained 

 fine young birds. All of the Sandpipers 

 were very fat, and more than three-fourths 

 of the Buff-breasts were females. The males 

 are readil}' distinguished by their larger 

 size, the wing and tarsus being strikinglv 

 longer. The markings on the under side of 

 the wings are verv beautiful. 



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