BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 227 



manner very similar to that of a Plover. Its flight is moderately quick, 

 and is performed with regular beats of the wings. Dr. Heermann describes 

 its note as a low tweet, several times repeated. This note is generally 

 heard as the bird rises on the wing, and less frequently as it runs over the 

 ground. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is very tame, and when fired at 

 seldom flies far, even if its companions fall, merely contenting itself with 

 making a short detour and then returning almost to the same spot. 



The food of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is principally composed of 

 insects, especially beetles and grasshoppers, for which it searches amongst 

 the herbage and the droppings of cattle. It also feeds on worms and small 

 marine animals, such as crustaceans, mollusks, &c. To this fare may 

 perhaps be added small fruits and berries. 



But little is known of the life-history of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 

 and only the scantiest particulars are known respecting its nest and its 

 habits during the breeding-season. It spends the summer in the Arctic 

 regions, and was found breeding abundantly on the Anderson river by 

 MacFarlane. The nest, he says, is always on the ground, and is scarcely 

 distinguishable from that of the Golden Plover : it must consequently be 

 very slight, little more than a depression, scantily lined with a few dead 

 leaves and bits of dry grass. Ail the nests that MacFarlane obtained were 

 011 the tundras lying between Horton river and the coast. The nests were 

 obtained between the 26th of June and the 9th of July. When the full 

 clutch is laid, the eggs appear always to be four in number. 



The eggs of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper, of which I have examined the 

 magnificent series in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution at 

 Washington, are about as large as those of the Wood-Sandpiper, but in 

 colour they rival those of the Redshank. The only adjective that an 

 ornithologist can apply to them is " superb." They vary in ground-colour 

 from pale sandy to rich ochre, sometimes with a slight olive tint. The 

 overlying spots are a very rich reddish brown, varying somewhat in 

 intensity, most of them very bold irregular blotches, often confluent 

 round the large end of the egg, varied with smaller spots. The underlying 

 markings are numerous, well defined, and pale lavender in colour. In 

 some eggs the spots are smaller, whilst in others they take the form of 

 diagonal dashes. Often the large ends are slightly streaked with dark 

 brown. They vary in length from 1*5 to 1'4 inch, and in breadth from I'l 

 to T02 inch. At the nest the sitting bird appears to be very tame, 

 flying away for a short distance, and then waiting to watch the fate of its 

 treasure. Probably only one brood is reared in the year, as the season 

 is not sufficiently long to allow for a second. 



In their journey southwards the Buff-breasted Sandpipers fly in little 

 parties or small flocks, and at that season are seen on the sea-shore. Of 

 their habits in winter nothing appears to have been recorded ; but as the 



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