BLACK-BREASTED SANDPIPER. 213 



is seldom raised above the level of the back. None of the 

 birds of this family depress the tail when stooping, and 

 painters err who represent them as doing so. The Ring- 

 Plover flies very nearly in the same manner as the Dunlin, 

 but proceeds in a somewhat different way, as will be seen 

 in my description of the habits of that species. 



The Dunlin is most extensively dispersed, being found 

 along the shores of both continents, from the polar regions 

 to the tropics. 



Young. — When fledged, the young are as follows : — The 

 bill is black ; the iris dusky ; the feet dark greenish-brown. 

 The upper parts are variegated with black and light red, as 

 in the adult ; and the fore-neck, breast, and part of the sides 

 are spotted with black ; the middle of the breast, the abdomen, 

 lower tail-coverts, and throat white. They begin to moult 

 in September, and by the middle of November have acquired 

 the appearance of the old birds at that season ; but may 

 generally be distinguished by having the dark spots larger, 

 and the fore-neck rufous. 



Remarks. — Montagu, in the Supplement to his Ornitho- 

 logical Dictionary, expressed his belief, founded on the com- 

 parison of individuals at different seasons, that the Purre 

 and the Dunlin of former writers are merely the same bird 

 in its winter and summer plumage. M. Temminck has con- 

 firmed this view ; and other writers, assuming to themselves 

 much merit in further corroborating the statements of these 

 excellent ornithologists, have chimed in with them. For 

 my own part, having studied the Dunlin before consulting 

 books, I was afterwards surprised to learn that Linna?us and 

 others had considered the summer black -breasted bird as of 

 a different species from the white-breasted one of winter. 

 But my opportunities of observation were much superior to 

 those of the persons alluded to, for the Dunlins bred within 

 a mile of my habitation, and in vast numbers resorted to the 

 sands before it. 



There is some reason for thinking that two species occur 

 in Britain, and are confounded under the name of Tringa 



