122 PLOVER GROUP 



above, spotted and mottled with black and <^reyish white, tinged with 

 buff on the breast, below. 



In the matter of habits the most distinctive feature of the purple 

 sandpiper appears to be its fondness for rocky coasts in preference to 

 the more open tracts which form the favourite resorts of other waders. 

 Still, a stray bird or two may occasionally be seen on the mud-flats, 

 although on low sandy beaches the species very seldom puts in an 

 appearance. When on the rocks, it boldly dashes among the spray of 

 the waves in search of food, only seeking shelter among the larger 

 rocks when a gale is blowing. Frequently it will allow itself to be 

 approached within a short distance, running among the rocks rather 

 than taking to flight ; but when once flushed, it flies rapidly at a 

 comparatively low elevation. It is also an excellent swimmer, although 

 it apparently never dives except when hard pressed. Its food is of 

 the usual description, and its note is said to be not unlike that of the 

 common sandpiper. The nest, which is placed in a slight hollow, 

 lined, according to the locality of the breeding-place, either with moss 

 and grass or birch-leaves, in high northern latitudes is generally situated 

 near the shore, but in the Faroes has been taken on the moorland. 

 The four eggs, each of which measures about i^ inches in length, are 

 very similar to those of the dunlin, but of larger size, displaying the 

 same remarkable variation in the ground-colour. 



Cuplew-Sandpiper '^^^^ curlew-sandpiper, or curlew-stint as it might 

 (Trinffa subar- ^^ better called, takes its name from the markedly 

 Quata) curlew-like downward curvature of the long beak, 



by which feature it may be distinguished from all 

 other British sandpipers, and on account of which it is referred by 

 some authors to a genus by itself, with the name of AjicylocJiihis 

 siibarquatus. In other respects the bird is very like a dunlin. As 

 regards the general colouring of the plumage, it may be mentioned 

 that the most striking feature of the summer-dress is the rich chestnut 

 of the undcr-parts, broken on the abdomen by white patches ; the 

 upper-parts, are paler chestnut, variegated on the crown of the head 

 and neck by dark brown streaks, and on the back by an irregular 

 pattern of black, buff, and white spots and bars. In winter the 

 chestnut disappears, the upper-parts being ash-coloured and the under 

 surface white. Young birds differ from the adults in summer-dress 

 by their paler colour, the buff margins to the feathers of the upper- 

 j)arts, and a tinge of buff on the throat and upper part of the breast, 

 which latter is streaked with brown. White tips and faint bars below 



