Part 16

Late dates of fall departure are: Alberta, Red Deer River, September 22; Montana, Big Sandy, September 6; Wyoming, Little Medicine, August 15; Colorado, Fort Lyon, September 2; New Mexico, Glenrio, September 11; Manitoba, Treesbank, September 7, Margaret, September 18, and Aweme, September 28; North Dakota, Marstonmoor, September 15, and Westhope, September 24; South Dakota, Huron, September 2, Sioux Falls, September 6, and Forestburg, September 30; Nebraska, Dewitt, September 21, Badger, September 28, and Valentine, October 5; Kansas, near Wichita, October 3, Topeka, October 13, and Onaga, October 15; Texas, Grapevine, September 25, Gainesville, September 28, and Corpus Christi, October 2; Minnesota, Lanesboro, August 22, and St. Vincent, August 31; Iowa, Emmetsburg, October 14, Newton, October 22, and Grinnell, November 2; Michigan, Livonia, September 18, and Detroit, October 20; Ohio, Lakeside, October 13, Scio, October 17, and Waverly, October 23; Illinois, La Grange, October 5, Belvidere, October 24, and Rantoul, November 29; Missouri, Monteer, September 17, and Jasper City, September 27; Kentucky, Lexington, October 11; Louisiana, New Orleans, October 7; Maine, Pittsfield, September 22; Vermont, St. Johnsbury, September 25; Massachusetts, Harvard, September 14, Taunton, September 19, and Woods Hole, September 29; Rhode Island, Block Island, September 6; Connecticut, Hartford, September 3, and Litchfield, September 6; New York, Phelps, September 14, Montauk, September 17, Orient Point, September 23, and Floral Park, October 20; New Jersey, Absalom Light, September 15; Pennsylvania, Erie, September 22, Germantown, October 2, and Bridesburg, October 18; Virginia, Alexandria, November 5; North Carolina, Weaverville, November 10; South Carolina, Mt. Pleasant, October 28; Georgia, Savannah, September 20; Alabama, Barachias, October 26; Florida, Key West, October 3; Costa Rica, San Jose, November 15; Nicaragua, Escondido River, November 26; Panama, Culebra, October 22, and Davila, November 30 and Gatun, December 8; Guiana, Cayenne, October 27; Peru, Cosnipata, October 3; and Brazil, Allianca, November 9.

Casual records.--A specimen of the upland plover taken February 8, 1923 at Deception Island, South Shetlands, must be considered accidental, as this is far south of its normal winter range (Bennett, 1926). The species has been reported as occasional in spring in Newfoundland (Macoun) and one was obtained on Sable Island in 1868 (Gilpin). There are several records for Quebec (Montreal and Godbout) from May 7 to October. Two have been taken in Bermuda (September 20, 1874, and September 18, 1875). In Porto Rico one was obtained by Stahl between 1878 and 1881 (Gundlach); F. A. Potts reports that he saw one September 10, 1921 near Central Aguirre, collected one from a flock of 15 on September 13, 1921, near Santa Isabel, and saw still another August 26, 1926 near Fortuna. On the Pacific coast south of British Columbia, it is known from a specimen taken August 8, 1896, at Tule Lake, California, and one taken at Sulphur Springs, Arizona, August 18, 1874.

There are six records for England, Warwick, October 31, 1851, Cambridge, December 12, 1854, Bigswear, January 19, 1855, Falmouth November 13, 1865, Boulmer, November 21, 1879 and the Parret River in Somersetshire (date ?); one for Denmark Tim, November 3, 1920; one for Malta, November 17, 1865; one for Holland (Meyer); one for Germany, Hessen (Naumann); and one for Italy, Liguria, October, 1859. It also was taken near Sydney, Australia, in 1865 (Gould).

Egg dates.--New England and New York: 10 records, April 28 to June 13. Pennsylvania and New Jersey: 15 records, May 6 to June 11; 8 records, May 15 to 27. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Dakotas, and Minnesota: 86 records, May 4 to July 1; 43 records, June 1 to 15. Ohio to Iowa and Kansas: 22 records, April 30 to June 17; 11 records, May 14 to 20.

TRYNGITES SUBRUFICOLLIS (Vieillot)

BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER

HABITS

My acquaintance with this species is limited to a few birds seen migrating in company with golden plover on the burnt-over prairies about Quill Lake, Saskatchewan. I have never seen it elsewhere. Like the upland plover, it is a sandpiper which has associated much with plover, frequents similar haunts, and has acquired some similar habits.

Spring.--W. H. Hudson (1922) gives a striking account of the spring migration of this species in Argentina during its former abundance, from which I quote, as follows:

Now, one autumn, when most of the emigrants to the Arctic breeding grounds had already gone, I witnessed a great migration of this very species--this beautiful sandpiper with the habits of a plover. The birds appeared in flocks of about one to two or three hundred, flying low and very swiftly due north, flock succeeding flock at intervals of about 10 or 12 minutes; and this migration continued for three days, or at all events three days from the first day I saw them, at a spot about 2 miles from my home. I was amazed at their numbers, and it was a puzzle to me then, and has been one ever since, that a species thinly distributed over the immense area of the Argentine pampas and Patagonia could keep to that one line of travel over that uniform green, sea-like country. For outside of that line not one bird of the kind could anywhere be seen; yet they kept so strictly to it that I sat each day for hours on my horse watching them pass, each flock first appearing as a faint buff-colored blur or cloud just above the southern horizon, rapidly approaching then passing me, about on a level with my horse’s head, to fade out of sight in a couple of minutes in the north; soon to be succeeded by another and yet other flocks in endless succession, each appearing at the same point as the one before, following the same line, as if a line invisible to all eyes except their own had been traced across the green world for their guidance. It gave one the idea that all the birds of this species, thinly distributed over tens of thousands of square miles of country, had formed the habit of assembling previous to migration at one starting point, from which they set out in successive flocks of a medium size in a disciplined order on that marvelous journey to their Arctic breeding grounds.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore (1926) noted migrating birds at Guamini on March 3 to 8. Prof. W. W. Cooke (1912) says that “migrants appear in the interior of Brazil and in Peru during March, but there are no spring migration data for the whole distance between Peru and Texas.” There is a heavy migration through Texas during April and then directly northward through the western part of the Mississippi Valley and the prairie Provinces of Canada to the Arctic tundra. The whole migration route in the spring seems to be very narrow. Prof. William Rowan (1927) writes:

This is a remarkable sandpiper from many viewpoints. Like the American golden plover and the Eskimo curlew it used to exist in millions and was slaughtered in uncountable numbers. To-day there are many widely traveled collectors who have never in their lives met with it. After extensive inquiries I can discover only one spot on the continent besides our point on which migrating buff-breasted sandpipers may be relied upon to turn up in any numbers. We get it in hundreds every spring, and, roughly speaking, it frequents only one field. Odd birds or moving flocks may be noted elsewhere from time to time, but on the rough pasture that forms the main body of the point this species arrives with unfailing regularity within a day or two of the 18th of May. Like the golden plover, it seems to migrate by night, for at daybreak there may be hundreds in place of the few or none at all of the previous evening.

In his notes for 1924 he writes to me:

Two birds were seen May 19 and subsequently collected. On the 21st, five were seen shortly after sunrise with black-bellied plover, the first time that I have seen this association, but a large arrival took place during the day and there were scores in the evening. On the 24th they had reached numbers such as I have never before seen and numerous photographs were taken. On the 26th they must have been on the ground in many hundreds. The whole of their area, over a mile long, was crawling with them. There is no doubt that this year they outnumbered every other wader we had on the place. Even so, they never formed large flocks, and I think we never saw more than 60 get up and fly together. They dropped very suddenly in numbers after this, as though they had all cleared off together, but a few were seen each day till the 30th, when a flock of 30 constituted our last record.

Pierce Brodkorb and Frank Grasett have recorded it in northeastern Illinois as early as April 27. A. G. Lawrence’s dates for Whitewater Lake, Manitoba, are from May 13 to 19. Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) noted the first arrivals at St. Michael, Alaska, on May 31; and John Murdoch (1885) says that it arrived at Point Barrow June 6 to 8.

Courtship.--Professor Rowan (1927) has given us the most elaborate account of the nuptial display of the buff-breasted sandpiper, as follows:

As we have noted it annually, there are several distinct stages to the display, but the males do not appear to be concerned in the least with the females at any time. Nor have I ever seen a female take the slightest notice of any of the displays. Nelson comments on the fact that Murdoch frequently saw solitary males displaying, yet he was observing them on the actual breeding grounds.

Probably the most frequent performance is the raising of one wing only (either one), but this has various phases. A, the wing is spread and held steadily for a few moments with the primaries horizontal and is then closed again. B, the wing is spread with the primaries nearly perpendicular and waved round in an ellipse, the bird standing still. C, the wing is spread while the bird runs round in circles. D, the wing is held aloft while the owner runs after another bird, always, so far as I have seen, another male, which instantly raises one wing also and starts zigzagging through the grass, the first bird giving chase. They may thus cover many yards before one suddenly collapses his wing and halts, the second immediately following suit. All these single-wing performances seem to be carried out in silence.

Both wings together are used for another set of actions. E, the wings are raised similarly to a bird alighting on or arising from the ground, the body horizontal. In this attitude one bird sometimes chases another. F is a double version of B, both wings being raised high and waved round and round. G, both wings are spread, undersurfaces forward, primaries horizontal, after the manner of the American eagle, the body being almost perpendicular. This may be accomplished by a rapid tick tick tick many times repeated. Two birds may do it simultaneously standing opposite to each other with the tips of the wings practically touching. H is the most characteristic of all and the most amusing to watch. Both wings are raised with the undersurfaces facing to the front as in G, but with the primaries perpendicular, tips practically touching each other over the bird’s head. The body is held absolutely vertical and the legs stretched to capacity (I am not sure that the birds do not stand partially on tiptoe), tail cocked out horizontally behind, while the individual “ticks” at top speed for about a second. Each “tick” is accompanied with a rapid jerk of the whole body. The bird then relaxes momentarily, turns through an angle of 40 to 50 degrees, repeats the performance to a fresh audience (if there is one, for I have seen isolated birds doing this), relaxes to switch round again, and so on perhaps half a dozen times. This may also be done simultaneously by two birds, face to face, and standing so close that the wing tips appear to touch over their heads. It may then be repeated without any change of direction in the intervals. But it always seems to be done in spasms. Display is evidently infectious, particularly in fine weather, for no sooner does one start than a dozen may be at it in a moment. But it is curious to see a bird suddenly stop in its hunt for food in order to go through one of these acts and then proceed as though it never had anything else in mind, particularly if it is by itself. It seems so irrational. Occasional bickering occurs, but we have never seen serious fights or even suggestion of anything serious.

Murdoch (1885) has also observed that--

Two will occasionally meet and spar like fighting cocks for a few minutes and then rise together like towering birds, with legs hanging loose, for about 30 feet, then drifting off to leeward. A single bird will sometimes stretch himself up to his full height, spread his wings forward, and puff out his throat, making a sort of clucking noise, while one or two others stand by and apparently admire him.

Nesting.--Roderick MacFarlane found the buff-breasted sandpiper breeding commonly on the barren grounds east of Horton River and on the Arctic coast. I find the records of some 25 nests in his notes, but the data given are very meager. One nest was “near a small river, made of a few dead leaves”; another was “a depression in the ground, lined with a few withered grasses and leaves, on the slope of a gentle eminence”; a third, he said, was “precisely similar to that of the golden plover. The female made a short, low flight to a distance of about 12 yards, when the nest was approached within 9 or 10 feet.”

Murdoch (1885), at Point Barrow, “collected the eggs in considerable abundance”; he says that “they were never seen on the lower marshy portions of the tundra, but always confined themselves to the high and dry banks, or what we call the black tundra.” The eggs were deposited “in a shallow depression in the ground lined with a little moss,” where they harmonized very well with the black and white of the ground and moss.

Eggs.--The buff-breasted sandpiper lays four eggs; one set of five is recorded. The shapes vary from ovate pyriform to pyriform, usually decidedly pointed. The prevailing ground colors are very light, from “cartridge buff” to dull white; in some darker colored eggs they are “olive-buff,” “chamois,” or “cream buff.” They are heavily and boldly marked, chiefly at the large end, where the markings are often confluent, with longitudinal and somewhat spiral blotches and with small spots and blotches scattered over the whole egg. An occasional egg is only sparingly marked with small spots. The markings are in dark browns, “bister,” “sepia,” “liver brown” and “livid brown,” sometimes “Saccardo’s umber” or “chestnut brown.” There are usually underlying blotches and spots in various shades of “brownish drab” or “drab-gray.” The measurements of 62 eggs in the United States National Museum average 37 by 26 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measures =40= by 27, 37.5 by =27.5=, =34.5= by 25.5, and 35.5 by =25= millimeters.

Plumages.--I have never seen a downy young buff-breasted sandpiper and I doubt if any one else has. Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they migrate southward. They are like the adults, except as follows: The feathers of the mantle are sepia with an olive tinge, “dark grayish olive,” narrowly edged with cream white, giving a scaled appearance, whereas in the adult these feathers are brownish black or black, with very broad edgings of “cinnamon-buff” or “pinkish buff”; the feathers of the lower back, rump and upper tail coverts are from “hair brown” to “fuscous,” tipped with “cinnamon,” whereas in the adult these are brownish black, broadly edged with “cinnamon-buff”; the inner webs of the primaries, on the under side, are much more finely and closely sprinkled with black than in the adult, which has larger, more widely scattered and hence more conspicuous black spots. This last character probably persists through the first year. The postjuvenal molt and the first prenuptial molt are accomplished in South America. I have seen no specimens illustrating these.

Adults have a complete molt, apparently late in the fall or in the winter, the wings being molted last. Doctor Wetmore (1926) shot a male on September 21 that was still in worn breeding plumage. Birds molting primaries have been taken in February and March. Summer and winter plumages are very similar and the sexes are alike, except that the female is much smaller than the male.

Food.--Professor Rowan (1927) says:

I am indebted to the Biological Survey at Washington for kindly analyzing the contents of 17 stomachs, spring taken. Roughly, 40 per cent consisted of Coleoptera, adults and larvae, and 50 per cent of Diptera, chiefly larvae and pupae. Seeds of Polygonum, Potamogeton, and Eleocharis were present to the extent of 1 per cent. The rest consisted of spider and insect remains. I shall be glad to send a detailed list to anyone who may be interested.