Note on Tryngites rufescens in Texas. — The Buff-breasted 
Sandpiper is mentioned by Mr. Dresser and Dr. Merrill as occurring on 
the Rio Grande in Texas, but Mr. Sennett and Mr. McCauley did not note 
it. Professor Snow calls it rare in Kansas, and Dr. Coues did not meet 
with it in Dakota while with the Northern Boundary Survey. My ex- 
perience is that it is a bird whose occurrence is not to be relied upon in 
Cooke County, Texas. 
On April 23, 1877, I saw a flock here and noted no more until April 29, 
1880, when I saw two or three flocks of some half-dozen each, near Gains- 
ville. Not having my gun, I returned next day and scoured the same lo- 
cality without finding a single Tryngites. Thinking they were certainly 
on the large prairie west of Gainesville, I rode over that for half a day 
without seeing a Buff-breast, and gave up the search. On May 3, in riding 
through the same prairie where I saw the species in question, I came upon 
a flock of seven and, as before, was without my gun. I procured one and 
shot four with the first barrel and one with the second ; following the re- 
maining two I secured them, and no more have been seen since. 
I noted a habit of strutting and similar maneuveringin these birds which 
I have never seen in Bartram’s Tattler. My attention was first attracted 
"by the white lining of the wing as the bird lay on one side stretching the 
wing straight up in the air; on approaching nearer I saw several others 
near by acting in the same ludicrous manner. One would raise the feath- 
ers and strut up to another as though they were going to fight, and I think 
they did sometimes strike at each other as game cocks do. Another 
would run up to one of its companions and stand on tip-toe with both 
wings raised high in the air as if challenging a contest; after standing 
still for an instant it would then drop its wings and go to feeding as 
quietly as before. I regretted that I had such a limited opportunity for 
making notes upon this truly interesting species. 
Dr. Merrill says that the same dates and localities apply to T. rufescens 
as to Actiturus bartramius. The latter, however, arrives in Cooke County 
as early as March 27, which is about four weeks earlier than I have no- 
ted the Buff-breasts. Both species are very tame and mingle freely 
together while feeding. 
Mr. A. Hall, of East Rockport, Ohio, informs me that he met with a 
small flock of these birds in riding over the prairies in Nebraska, May 18, 
1880, associated with A. bartramius. They were very tame, allowing so 
near an approach that they might have been easily killed with stones. 
The several specimens obtained were all females. He adds that he ob- 
served no strutting or fighting, such as I had described to him as seen by 
me in Texas. — G. H. Ragsdale, Gainesville , Texas. 
N» OiO» ■Ot CT&Gj 1 1881 s in , 
1007. Among the Buff-breasted Sandpipers. 
Ibid., No. 2, p. 4.— The record of a day’s collecting 
' "Notes Nat. Hie„ £ 
[By F. T. Jencks.]; 
at Vermilion, ] 
