SCOLOPACID^ — THE SNIPE FAMILY — PELIDNA. 245 



preferences as to their feeding-grounds. Mr. Audubon speaks of them as particularly 

 abundant during the winter in Florida ; and Messrs. Allen, Maynard, and Boardman 

 have since confirmed this statement. They take their departure from the south about 

 the 1st of April. 



The Iled-backed Sandpiper passes through the interior, as well as along the coast, 

 in its migrations, pausing on its way to feed on the shores of inland lakes, ponds, 

 and rivers. It has been procured at both seasons by Mr. Kumlien near Lake Kos- 

 konong, where, at times, it is quite abundant. 



Sabine states that this species was observed in Sir Edward Parry's first voyage ; 

 but that it was rare on the coast of Davis Strait and Baffin's Bay and among the 

 islands of the Polar Sea. In the second voyage it was found breeding on Melville 

 Peninsula. And J. C. Ross, in the *' ISTatural History of the Last Arctic Voyage," 

 speaks of this bird as very abundant during the breeding-season, near Felix Harbor, 

 where it builds its nest in the marshes and by the sides of lakes. 



Three eggs of this species from South Greenland, taken in June, 1855, measure 

 1.40 by .98, 1.35 by .98, 1.39 by 1.03. They are pyriform in shape — extremely so — 

 having a ground-color varying from a dirty clayey-white, with a washing of rufous, to 

 a deep clay-color. The eggs are all spotted with large blotches of dark sienna-brown, 

 which occasionally have a purplish tinge, and are irregularly confluent, and more 

 numerous about the larger end than on the other one, where they are few in number, 

 small, and scattered. 



The European form of this species, known as the Dunlin or Purre, is entitled to a 

 place in a list of the birds belonging to the fauna of North America, since it is of 

 occasional occurrence in Greenland, Avhere the two forms appear to meet on common 

 ground. It is not proljable that the habits of the two forms are otherwise than 

 nearly, if not quite, identical; and as somewhat illustrative of both varieties, we 

 copy, with slight changes, the following graphic summary of their peculiarities, 

 from the pen of Sir William Jardine : " On the coasts of Great Britain the Purre 

 is the most common of the whole race, and may generally be met with, no matter 

 what is the character of the shore. Before they have been much driven about 

 and annoyed, they are also one of the most familiar. During winter the flocks are 

 sometimes immense, and will allow a person to approach very near, looking, and run- 

 ning a few steps, or stretching their wings in preparation for flight, listlessly and in 

 a manner indicative of little alarm ; a few shots, however, render them as timorous 

 and wary as they were before careless. In spring they sej^arate into pairs, when 

 some perform a migration to a considerable extent northward, while others retire to 

 the nearer marshes, a few to the shores of inland lakes, and still fewer to the higher 

 inland muirs. Having there performed the duties of incubation, they return again 

 in autumn to the shore, where they may be found in small parties, the amount of the 

 broods ; and these gradually congregate as the season advances, and more travellers 

 arrive, until many hundreds are thus joined. Their nests are formed beneath or at 

 the side of any small bush or tuft of grass, very neatly scraped, and with a few- 

 straws of grass around the sides. The male is generally in attendance, perched on 

 some near elevation ; and on any danger approaching, runs round, uttering at quick 

 intervals his shrill, monotonous whistle. The female, when raised from the nest, 

 flutters off for a few yards, and then assumes the same manner with the male. The 

 young sit and squat among the grass or reeds, and at that time the parents will come 

 within two yards of the person in search of them." 



Mr. Macgillivray, as quoted by Audubon, represents the Purre as being seen so 

 constantly in company Avith the Golden Plover when breeding, that it has obtained 



