PURPLE SANDPIPEE 147 



The first sandpiper observed by me the following spring was of this species, 

 a solitary male collected on June 2, 1925, at Nettilling Lake. The lakes were 

 still icebound and the land mostly covered with snow, but here and there were 

 small open pools. Along the border of one of these the bird was feeding in 

 the thin layer of thawed mud among the grassy hummocks. On June 11, in 

 the same locality near the Takuirbing River, several were observed and col- 

 lected. When flushed they emit a grating ick-ick-ick and when not too hard 

 pressed will often light again a few yards away. They flush sluggishly, and 

 when not come upon too abruptly will frequently elevate the wings leisurely 

 above the back, as though stretching them before taking flight. On the whole, 

 at this time, they were comparatively fearless and permitted close approach. 

 Only one was observed giving a vocal performance on the wing. It rose slowly 

 from the ground to a height of 15 or 20 feet and leisurely flying over the 

 tundra gave a series of low, musical staccato notes resembling to-ioit-to-wit-to- 

 wit-to-wit, etc. The performance continues unbrokenly while the bird remains 

 in the air over a distance of 25 or 30 yards. 



Nesting.— Rev. Henry H. Slater (1898) says: 



In the extreme north the nest is often quite close to the sea, little above 

 high-water mark. But in Iceland and at the southern borders of its breeding 

 range generally the purple sandpiper usually nests on the fells. My first nest, 

 from which I shot the female mentioned above, was near the top of a high 

 ridge in north Iceland, nearly 1.G00 feet above sea level, on a small bare 

 patch of recently uncovered ground amongst snow fields ; it was a slight 

 hollow in a withered tuft of Dryas octopetala, and rather a substantial nest 

 for a wader, consisting of a good handful of leaves of Dryas and Salix lanata, 

 a little short grass, two white ptarmigan's feathers and a few of the parents'. 



W. C. Hewitson (1856) quotes Mr. Wolley as saying that in the 

 Faeroes, "it breeds sparingly on the very tops of high mountains, 

 where I found its young at the end of June still unable to fly." 



Messrs. E. Evans and W. Sturge (1859) found the purple sand- 

 piper breeding in Spitsbergen ; they say : 



The purple sandpiper (Tringa men-it ina, Briinn.) was very abundant in Coal 

 Bay (on the south side of Ice Sound, so named on account of a small quantity 

 of poor coal being found there), and we found four of their nests on the high 

 field. Beautiful little nests they were, deep in the ground, and lined with 

 stalks of grass and leaves of the dwarf birch (Betula nana, L.), containing 

 mostly four eggs of an olive green, handsomely mottled with purplish brown, 

 chiefly at the larger end. We watched this elegant little bird — the only one of 

 the Grallatores we saw — with much interest as it waded into some pool of 

 snow water or ran along the shingle, every now and then raising its wings 

 over its back and exhibiting the delicate tint of the under side, at the same 

 time uttering its loud shrill whistle. 



No recent accounts of the nesting habits of this species seem to 

 have been published and the data on eggs in collections seem to be 

 rather scanty. I have never found a nest myself. Both sexes are 

 said to incubate the eggs and share in the care of the young. The 

 period of incubation is over 20 days. 



