390 BUFF-BREASTED SANpPlPEK 



GKNUS IX. TRYNGITES. THE BUFFY SANDPIPERS. 



GEN. CH. Bill, about as lony as head, st'raiyht and slender, but not expandrd at tip. Coracoids, excetdini/ in length thr. 

 height of keel. Marytnal indentations, four; outer, twice as deep as inner. Hind toe, present. 



Members of this genus are quite small in size when compared with those of the preceding, but, excepting the slight 

 differences given above, resemble them in anatomical and other characters. Sexes, quite similar. There is but one spe- 

 cies within oar limits. 



TRYNGITES RUFESCENS. 



Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 

 Tryngitcs rufescens CAB., Journ.; 1819, 470. 



DESCRIPTION. 



SP. CH. Form, slender. Size, medium. Bill,. slender and feathered to nostrils. Tail, long and well rounded. Wings, 

 long and pointed. 



COLOR. Adult. Above, pale ashy-brown, every feather lined and spotted centrally with black, glossed with green- 

 ish. Primaries, dark-brown, with innner webs ashy, marbled with black. Tail, ashy-brown, darker on middle feathers, 

 tipped with white and transversely banded with wavy lines of black. Under portions, pale buffy-red, lighter on Hanks and 

 abdomen, with partly concealed spots of dark-brown on breast. Axillaries, white. 



Youny. Similar to the adult but the feathers beneath are edged with whitish. Bill, black, iris, brown, and feet, green- 

 ish-yellow, in all stages. 



OBSERVATIONS. 



Known from all others by the slender, straight bill, uniform huffy tints below, peculiar marblings to the inner webs of 

 primaries, and colors as described. Distributed, in summer, throughout the Arctic Regions; wintering south of the United 

 States. 



DIMENSIONS. 



Average measurements of specimens from Eastern North America. Length, 8'45; stretch, 16'65; wing, 5'20; tail, 

 2 39; bill, '80; tarsus, 1'25. Longest specimen, 8-90; greatest extent of wing, 17'40; longest wing, 5'43: tail.2'64; bill, "85; 

 tarsus, 1 35. Shortest specimen, 8'00; smallest extentof wing, 15'75; shortest wing, 4'95; tail, 2'15; bill, '75; tarsus, 1-15. 



DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 



Eyg*, placed on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on a little grass, etc. They are from two to four in num- 

 ber, pyriform in shape, varying from ashy-yellow to greenish-brown in color, spotted and blotched irregularly and thickly 

 with umber-brown of varying shades. Dimensions from l'02x P40 to 1'lOx 1'50. 



HABITS. 



The Buff-breasted Sandpipers occur during the autumnal migration, in New England, 

 and although they cannot be called rare, they are never very common. They make their 

 appearance from the North, about the middle of August, frequenting the elevated sections 

 near the coast. Occasionally a flock of half a dozen of these birds, may be seen, flying 

 swiftly along the hill sides, but it is more common to find solitary individuals in company 

 with the preceding species which they somewhat resemble in habit; or they may sometimes 

 be seen with Black-breasted and Golden Plover, and like all this class of birds, appear to 

 be attracted to the hill tops by the locusts, upon which they feed, though I have found bee- 

 tles, as well as other insects, in their crops. These handsome Sandpipers do not appear to 

 be found south of New Jersey , and north of this point, they occur as autumnal migrants, 

 the last one disappearing by the first of October. As they winter quite south of the Uni- 

 ted States, they must, consequently, pass over the more southern portion of our country, 

 and they either do so without alighting, or their presence has been overlooked by the orni- 

 thologists who have collected there. The note of the Buff-breasts is a clear whistle, given 

 at intervals as they fly. They breed along the coast of Arctic America, from Anderson 

 River, eastward. 



