320 



GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER (Tryngites subruficollis). 

 Local name: Hill Grass-bird. 



/>^ 



Length. — 7.50 to 8 inches. 



Adult. — Colored similarly to the Upland Plover, but smaller, rather paler 

 and less marked on breast and sides; dark brown or blackish above; 

 feathers edged with brownish yellow, giving the bird a general tawny 

 appearance; primary and secondary wing feathers dusky brown, darken- 

 ing toward tips and light tipped; tail shading like that of the Upland 

 Plover from the dark brown middle feathers to the light brownish 

 yellow outer ones, all with a subterminal bar of blackish and tipped 

 with whitish; below light buff; slightly spotted on sides of breast; 

 iris dark brown; bill blackish; legs greenish or yellowish. 



Field Marks. — The general tawny color of the bird and its buff under parts. 

 When in hand the primaries (inner webs) and the secondaries are seen 

 to be curiously marbled with black and white. Like the Upland Plover 

 it is seen usually on dry upland fields and rarely on the shore. 



Season. — Rare migrant July to September. 



Range. — North and South America. Breeds along Arctic coast from 

 northern Alaska to northern Keewatin; winters in Argentina and 

 Uruguay; most abundant in migration in Mississippi valley; occasional 

 on Atlantic coast in fall; casual on Pacific coast north to St. Michael, 

 Alaska, and to northeastern Siberia; straggles to Bermuda and western 

 Europe. 



History. 



The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is rather a rare bird upon \he 

 Atlantic coast, and possibly always has been, as it breeds in 

 northern Alaska and its main migration route does not touch 

 the Atlantic coast. It seems probable that the birds of this 

 species which appear in Massachusetts are members of strag- 



