BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 71 



winter season principally in the warmer parts of the continent 

 of America as far south as the Brazils. 



The measurements of the bird before us are as follows : 

 from the tip of the beak to the extremity of the middle 

 tail-feathers its length is nearly eight inches ; from the carpus 

 to the tip of the wing five inches three lines ; the beak 

 measures nine lines to the forehead, and one inch to the 

 gape ; the tarsus measures one inch two lines ; the naked 

 part of the tibia six lines. 



The British-killed specimen, from which our drawing 

 was made, bore the following plumage : all the upper plum- 

 age and upper part of the breast are, as its name in- 

 dicates, of a beautiful buff colour, the rest of the under 

 parts being only slightly tinged with the same ; from the 

 forehead over the top of the head, reaching as far as the 

 eyes and ear-coverts, the centres of the feathers are dusky, 

 thereby forming a beautiful appearance of regular rows of 

 scales. The back and sides of the neck, and the sides and 

 front of the breast, are spotted with dusky in a much smaller 

 degree, owing to the lesser extent of that colour on each 

 feather. 



The feathers on the back, scapulars, and tertials are 

 dusky in the shafts and inner ring of the borders, with a 

 diffusion of that colour in a lighter degree ; the edges of 

 these feathers are white. The lesser wing-coverts are dusky, 

 with buff-coloured edges ; the larger wing-coverts more 

 broadly edged with dusky, in consequence of which the wing- 

 has a dusky band across when the wings are closed. From 

 the carpus to the tip of the spurious wing the feathers 

 on the ridge of the wing are broadly edged with white ; 

 the quill and tail-feathers are dusky, edged with white ; the 

 rump and upper tail-coverts are barred with dusky and 



buff; vent and under tail-coverts finely marked with black 



g3 



