278 THE GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL 



wide grassy wastes to the shore. Its migrations to and from its breeding grounds 

 are consequently chiefly taken across inland districts, but small parties occasion- 

 ally frequent the shore. It passes across the prairies of the United States in 

 spring, and arrives at its Arctic breeding grounds during the first week in June, 

 and the return migration commences in August and lasts through the autumn. 

 In many of its habits it resembles Bartram's Sandpiper, and like that species it 

 is fond of frequenting the wagon tracks and bare spots on the plains, where it 

 runs about in quest of food. It is said to be a very tame bird, seldom flying far 

 after being fired at. Its flight is rapid and straightforward. The note of the 

 Buff-breasted Sandpiper is described by Dr. Heermann as a low, oft-repeated 

 tweet. The food of this species consists principally of insects, especially cole- 

 optera, for which the bird searches amongst the droppings of animals and the 

 herbage of its haunts. Worms, and when on the shore, crustaceans and 

 mollusks, are also eaten, and during summer various ground fruits and berries. 

 During migration the Buff-breasted Sandpiper is more or less gregarious, but 

 whether these flocks continue through the winter appears to be unknown. 



Nidification.— But little has been recorded of the habits of the Buff- 

 breasted Sandpiper during the breeding season. Mr. Elliot states that the males 

 go through various antics during the pairing season, sometimes sparring with 

 each other like game cocks and then soaring into the air. MacFarlane found 

 this bird breeding in abundance in the Anderson Eiver district in the north-west 

 of America, and obtained a remarkably fine series of eggs ; but unfortunately he 

 neglected his splendid opportunities of observing and recording details of the 

 nesting habits of this and many other Waders, and the few facts he has furnished 

 only bring out in stronger contrast his unpardonable neglect. He informs us that 

 the nest is always on the ground, and scarcely distinguishable from that of the 

 Golden Plover {Charadnus fulvus). His series of eggs was obtained between 

 the 26th of June and the 9th of July. The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was also 

 met with breeding at Point Barrow, in Alaska by Mr. Murdoch. He states that 

 it frequented the dry portions of the tundra, and that the nest was a shallow 

 depression lined with a little moss. The eggs are four in number, and vary in 

 ground-colour from pale to rich buff, sometimes tinged with olive, handsomely 

 blotched and spotted with rich reddish-brown and blackish-brown, and with 

 numerous underlying markings of ink-grey. They measure on an average 145 inch 

 in length by I'O inch in breadth. The parent birds are said to be very tame at 

 the nest, only flying away for a little distance when flushed from the eggs. But 

 one brood is reared in the season, and the southern flight commences shortly 

 after the young can fly. 



Diagnostic characters.— T/iz/r/ifes, with the under surface of the wings 

 buff, mottled with black and white, and the tail graduated. Length, 7 to 8 inches. 



