Shore-bird Shooting 431 



a certain extent in habits. A specimen was once 

 given to me by a Long Island gunner, who called 

 it a young upland plover, and said he usually 

 killed several during the season. On the Atlan- 

 tic Coast the bird is rare, and usually occurs by 

 itself, or in company with pectoral sandpipers, 

 exceptionally in flocks. On the shores of the 

 Canadian provinces it is still more uncommon, 

 but has been taken near Halifax and Pictou and 

 is recorded from Prince Edward's Island. In sev- 

 eral years' experience with the shore shooting on 

 the Magdalen Islands, I know of only one instance 

 of its capture ; this was in early September, and 

 the bird was shot among a large flock of pectoral 

 sandpipers. In the New England states it is of 

 irregular occurrence, and is usually taken in late 

 August or September. Throughout the prairie 

 states the buff-breast is common, arriving in flocks 

 in August, and is found on the shores and flats 

 of the alkali lakes, often frequenting the fields and 

 plains. The birds are gentle and easily shot, 

 though in this country would hardly be disturbed 

 as game. They pass south through Texas and 

 the southwestern states into Mexico, wintering in 

 various parts of South America and visiting at 

 times the West Indies. The migration north is 

 in May, over the plains to the Arctic regions, 

 where the nest has been taken in Alaska, the 

 Anderson River regions, and the Barren Grounds. 



