THE PURPLE SAND PIPER. 217 



together as to afford an excellent shot, especially when 

 they suddenly alight in a mass near the sportsman, 

 or when, swiftly veering, they expose their loweJ 

 parts at the same moment. On such occasions a 

 dozen or more may be killed at once, provided the 

 proper moment is chosen. 



" There seems to be a kind of impatience in this 

 bird that prevents it from remaining any length of 

 time in the same place, and you may see it, scarcely 

 alighted on a sand-bar, fly off without any apparent 

 reason to another, where it settles, runs for a few 

 moments, and a;ain starts off on wins. When search- 



I O O 



ing for food they run with great agility, following the 

 retiring waves, and retreating as they advance; pro- 

 bing the wet sands, and picking up objects from their 

 surface, ever jerking up the tail, and now and then 

 littering a faint cry, pleasant to the ear, and differing 

 from the kind of scream which they emit while on 



wing." 



This bird appears to be an inhabitant of both con- 

 tinents, and although so abundant along the coasts 

 at some seasons, they appear always to retire to the 

 Arctic regions to breed. 



The Purple Sand Piper frequents the Atlantic 

 shores from Maine to New York during the Spring 

 and Autumn, but passes the Summer in the Hudson's 

 Bay country. While in the south it seems to prefer 

 rocky shores to the sandy beaches. Their food con- 

 gists of small shell-fish, worms, and the marine in- 

 sects which abound among the drifting sea-weeds. 



The Semi-palmated Sand Piper is one of those spe- 

 19 



