int added = 0;
    while (added < numElements) {
      // we could rely solely on #poll, but #drainTo might be more efficient when there are multiple
      // elements already available (e.g. LinkedBlockingQueue#drainTo locks only once)
      added += q.drainTo(buffer, numElements - added);
      if (added < numElements) { // not enough elements immediately available; will have to poll