the Birds of Barbados. 497 



■f^ 55. Bartramialongicauda (Bechst.). Cotton-tree Plover. 

 Generally arrives about the middle of August, and a few 

 remain till March. On arrival the flocks break up and scatter 

 over the grass-lands, cornfields, yam and sweet-potatoe 

 patches, feediug on grasshoppers, beetles, and other insects. 

 They are not attracted by the " mock birds,'' neither do 

 they respond to the whistle of the sportsman. They run as 

 fast as a Guinea-fowl, and generally rise well out of shot. 

 Their note is peculiarly pretty, a soft liquid cry. The local 

 name given to this bird took its origin from its habit of 

 chiefly frequenting the cotton-fields, when that plant was 

 cultivated in Barbados. It is recorded from the island of 

 Grenada by Mr. Wells, and Mr. Lawrence remarks (Proc. 

 U.S. Nat. Mus. p. 628, 1886) that this is an addition to the 

 fauna of the Lesser Antilles. But apparently Schomburgk's 

 list of the birds of Barbados, where this species is included, 

 had been overlooked. 



-f- 56. Tringites rufescens (Vieill.). 



The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is of sufiiciently rare occur- 

 rence in Barbados not to have received a local name. Dr. 

 Manning gave me an example which he shot in the autumn 

 of 1887, and I have another, a male, which I procured at 

 Chancery Lane on, the 6th of October, 1888. I have amongst 

 the series in my collection a specimen from Barbados, col- 

 lected by the late Lt. -Colonel Wedderburn, of the 42nd High- 

 landers {circa 1847). Mr. Massiah's description of this 

 bird to me was quite sufficient to identify it even before I 

 saw a specimen ; he likened it to a miniature Bartram's 

 Sandpiper, with peculiar markings under the wings, and he 

 considered that individuals appeared annually on autumn 

 migration in Barbados. Cory has hitherto only described it 

 as " accidental " in the West Indies, from the island of Cuba. 



>-{- 57. NuMENiusHUDSONicus (Lath.). Crook-billed Curlew ; 

 Woodcock. 



It arrives early in August, flying very often in pairs, but 

 chiefly towards the middle of September. It is by no means 

 so abundant a visitor as the next species, N. borealis. I ob- 



