70 SCOLOPAC1D.E. 



GRALLATORES. SCOLOPACIDJE. 



PLATE CXCVII. 



BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 



TRINGA RUFESCENS. 



The Buff-breasted Sandpiper was first brought into 

 notice as a visitor in Britain by Mr. Yarrell, from a speci- 

 men shot in the month of September 1826, in the parish 

 of Melbourne, in Cambridgeshire, from among a flock of 

 the common dotterels, with which it is supposed to have 

 come from its breeding-place in the Polar regions. Since 

 that period, several specimens have been obtained, although 

 only as solitary birds. In America this bird is more plenti- 

 ful, and we are informed that it is not uncommon in the 

 Boston markets. 



Very little is known of the habits of the Buff-breasted 

 Sandpiper; the localities it frequents are the banks of rivers 

 or the sea-shore ; its food, from observations made on the 

 contents of its stomach, seems to consist of insects, both 

 aquatic and others, among which rank the grasshopper and 

 small worms. 



In consequence of the Buff-breasted Sandpiper having 

 been found to inhabit the Arctic circle during our sum- 

 mer months, it is supposed to breed there, but passes the 



