Jan., 1909. Birds of Illinois and Wisconsin — Cory. 419 



pale bufE, lined with dark brown; breast, pale buff, with arrow-shaped 

 markings of dark brown; belly,. pale buff; axillars, banded with dark 

 slaty brown and white; outer primaries, white, banded with brown 

 on the inner webs. 



Adult in winter: Similar, but paler. 



Length, 11.75; wing, 6.60; tarsus, 1.90; bill, 1.20. 



A summer resident in Illinois and Wisconsin, formerly very abun- 

 dant, but now only moderately common and becoming less so every 

 year. 



The nest is placed on the ground usually in a field or pasture. The 

 eggs are 4 or 5, buff white, spotted with reddish brown, the markings 

 heavier and more numerous at the larger end. They measure 1.80 

 X 1.25 inches. 



Genus TRYNGITES Cabanis. 



129. Tryngites subruficollis (Vieill.). 

 Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 



Distr.: General North America, more common in the interior; 

 breeds from Alaska and British America northward; south in winter 

 to South America as far as Peru and Uraguay ; not common in eastern 

 United States. 



Adult in summer: Upper plumage, buff, mottled with black; 

 the feathers on the back, black, edged with buff; under parts have a 

 mottled buff and white appear- 

 ance, caused by the exposed por- 

 tion of the feathers being buff, 

 narrowly tipped with white ; the i''"* primary. 



feathers are dark slate-color at base, but the slate-color is entirely 

 concealed ; inner web of first primary, white, speckled with dark brown; 

 the inner primaries and secondaries, narrowly tipped with white, show- 

 ing a sub-terminal band of black; axillars, white. 



Adult in winter: Similar, but paler. 



Length, 8; wing, 5.30; tarsus, 1.25 ; bill, .85. 



The Buff-breasted Sandpiper is usually a rather rare migrant in 

 Illinois and Wisconsin, although in one instance at least, it was 

 abundant in one locality. 



W. W. Cook writes: "Dr. A. K. Fisher tells me that in August, 

 1874, he saw hundreds of Buff-breasted Sandpipers on the dry prairie 

 at Maywood, Cook County, 111., only ten miles from Chicago and that 

 he shot numbers of them." (Report Bird Migration Mississippi Valley, 

 1888, p. 97.) Mr. Wm. A. Bryan mentions a specimen taken near 



