602 BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 
in Northern Alaska, though on the Yukon and southwards to Sitka 
it appears to be uncommon. Mr. E. W. Nelson found it rather 
numerous on August 1st 1880 on the north coast of Siberia to 
the west of Koliuchin Bay, and says that the birds were evidently 
on their breeding-grounds there; while Middendorff has recorded 
an example from the Sea of Okhotsk, shot on June 3oth. On 
migration it is found throughout the United States, though irregularly 
and rather sparsely in the north-east; becoming more plentiful in 
Louisiana, and southward to Mexico. It visits the Bermudas, Cuba, 
Barbados, Trinidad, and probably other islands in the West Indies, 
passing the winter in South America, down to Eastern Peru and 
Argentina. 
Mr. Murdoch notes the arrival at Point Barrow as from June 6th 
to 8th; the birds frequented the drier portions of the tundras, and 
deposited their eggs, 4 in number, in a shallow depression lined 
with a little moss. When at Washington, I had the pleasure of 
inspecting the superb series obtained by Mr. MacFarlane, and 
certainly the eggs of few Waders present such beauty or variety ; 
the prevailing ground-colour is pale buff or olive, the underlying 
markings are lavender-grey, and the blotches rich reddish-brown 
to black: measurements 1°45 by 1 in. Six examples are figured in 
Poynting’s ‘Eggs of Limicole.’ As a rule the species is remarkably 
quiet, even at the season of courtship, though at times two males will 
meet and go through a performance of sparring or showing-off, while 
a solitary bird may often be seen walking about with one wing extended 
upwards in the air. Early in August the migration southward takes 
place; and as the food consists of beetles, grasshoppers and other 
insects, which are plentiful in autumn, the bird becomes remarkably 
fat and is much esteemed for the table. The note is a faint ‘weet. 
The Buff-breasted Sandpiper may easily be recognized by the 
beautiful black marblings on both sides of the inner webs of the 
primaries and secondaries as well as on the under wing-coverts: 
these markings being much more pronounced in adults than in the 
young. The upper parts are buffish-brown mottled with black, a 
slight greenish tinge showing on the tips of the primaries and on 
the central tail-feathers, the other tail-feathers being barred towards 
the tips ; under-parts rufous-buff, with a few black spots on the throat 
and sides of the breast ; axillaries white. In the young the feathers 
of the upper parts are broadly edged with dull white, the under- 
parts are paler, and the spots are smaller. Length 8 in. (bill ‘9), 
wing 5°25 in. Superficially the bird is not unlike a Ruff, though 
much smaller than even a Reeve. 
