﻿334 
  

  

  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  old 
  bird 
  refused 
  to 
  leave 
  until 
  his 
  horses 
  were 
  standing 
  over 
  her 
  and 
  the 
  

   plowshare 
  was 
  at 
  the 
  very 
  point 
  of 
  bur3'ing 
  her 
  and 
  her 
  treasures 
  in 
  the 
  

   earth. 
  The 
  nest 
  is 
  a 
  mere 
  depression 
  lined 
  with 
  grasses 
  and 
  small 
  stalks. 
  

   The 
  eggs 
  are 
  four 
  in 
  number, 
  large 
  and 
  pyriform 
  in 
  shape, 
  buffy 
  white 
  in 
  

   color 
  spotted 
  with 
  chocolate 
  and 
  reddish 
  brown, 
  more 
  thickh' 
  about 
  the 
  

   larger 
  end, 
  the 
  average 
  dimensions 
  being 
  1.75 
  x 
  1.3 
  inches. 
  The 
  downy 
  

   young 
  are 
  buffy 
  white 
  tinged 
  with 
  rusty 
  above 
  and 
  mottled 
  with 
  blackish; 
  

   blackish 
  spots 
  below 
  the 
  eye, 
  a 
  small 
  one 
  on 
  the 
  lores 
  and 
  a 
  large 
  one 
  behind 
  

   the 
  ear. 
  

  

  Tryngites 
  subruficollis 
  (Vieillot) 
  

   Buff-breasted 
  Sandpiper 
  

  

  Plate 
  38 
  

  

  Tringa 
  subruficollis 
  Vieillot. 
  Nouv. 
  Diet. 
  d'Hist. 
  Nat. 
  1819. 
  34:465 
  

  

  Tringa 
  rufescens 
  DeKay. 
  Zool. 
  N. 
  Y. 
  1844. 
  pt 
  2, 
  p. 
  238, 
  fig. 
  197 
  

  

  T 
  r 
  i 
  n 
  g 
  i 
  t 
  e 
  s 
  subruficollis 
  A. 
  O. 
  U. 
  Check 
  List. 
  Ed. 
  2. 
  1895. 
  No. 
  262 
  

  

  tringVtes, 
  Gr. 
  rpwyvVr;?, 
  a 
  sandpiper; 
  suhrujicol'lis, 
  Lat. 
  sub, 
  below, 
  riijns, 
  

  

  reddish, 
  and 
  collum, 
  neck 
  

  

  Description. 
  Bill 
  shorter 
  than 
  head, 
  slender, 
  grooved 
  nearly 
  the 
  whole 
  

   length, 
  hard 
  at 
  tip; 
  gape 
  extensive; 
  tail 
  rounded, 
  the 
  central 
  feathers 
  pro- 
  

   jecting; 
  tarsus 
  longer 
  than 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw; 
  toes 
  cleft. 
  Primaries 
  

   grayish 
  brown, 
  darker 
  toward 
  the 
  tips, 
  their 
  inner 
  webs 
  and 
  the 
  secondaries 
  

   peculiarly 
  marbled 
  with 
  white; 
  central 
  tail 
  feathers 
  greenish 
  brown, 
  darker 
  

   toward 
  the 
  end, 
  the 
  others 
  grayish 
  or 
  rufescent 
  with 
  subtemiinal 
  black 
  

   bar 
  and 
  buffy 
  white 
  tips; 
  upper 
  parts 
  iii 
  general 
  olive-brown 
  broadly 
  mar- 
  

   gined 
  with 
  yellowish 
  brown, 
  or 
  ocherous, 
  giving 
  a 
  prevailing 
  tawny 
  color; 
  

   under 
  parts 
  pale 
  buff 
  slightly 
  streaked 
  or 
  spotted 
  on 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  breast 
  ; 
  

   bill 
  brownish 
  black; 
  legs 
  yellowish. 
  Winter 
  and 
  immature: 
  Very 
  similar 
  

   but 
  paler 
  below. 
  

  

  Length 
  7-8.9 
  inches, 
  average 
  8.5; 
  extent 
  16-17; 
  wing 
  5-5.5; 
  tail 
  2.5; 
  

   tarsus 
  1. 
  1 
  5-1.3; 
  middle 
  toe 
  and 
  claw 
  i; 
  bill 
  .7-. 
  8. 
  

  

  The 
  Buff-breasted 
  sandpiper 
  is 
  a 
  nearctic 
  species 
  breeding 
  in 
  high 
  

   latitudes, 
  and 
  wintering 
  in 
  South 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  rather 
  uncommon 
  even 
  

   in 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  valley 
  and 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  rarer 
  sandpipers 
  on 
  oui' 
  Atlantic 
  

   coast. 
  Like 
  the 
  preceding 
  species, 
  it 
  inhabits 
  the 
  dry 
  prairies 
  and 
  sandy 
  

   fields 
  during 
  migration 
  and 
  is 
  rarely 
  taken 
  along 
  the 
  beach. 
  The 
  following 
  

  

  