I 26 



PLOVER GROUP 



some hollow amid low heather, moss, or li^rass, the dunlin's nest is care- 

 fully lined with root-fibres and dr)' grass. The ei;gs, which, as 

 already stated, closely resemble these of the purple sandpiper, although 

 of larger size, measure from i^- inches to nearly i .', inches in length, 



and are ver)' variable in colour- 

 ing. Generally speaking, it may 

 be said that the ground-colour 

 ranges from light greenish or 

 olive grey to full cream or even 

 pale chocolate, and that the 

 superficial markings, which are 

 mostly aggregated at the larger 

 end, take the form of spots or 

 blotches varying in tone from 

 reddish brown to blackish, al- 

 though the underlying greyish 

 markings are constant. The 

 situation of the nest is never 

 far from water, either salt or fresh. Dunlin have not a very high 

 repute as birds for the table. Pied phases are by no means uncom- 

 mon, and at least one albino is on record. In the pairing-sea.son 

 dunlin, while on the wing, utter a whistling cry quite unlike the 

 ordinary call-note. 



MOUNTED IN THE HOWLANO WARD STUDIOS 



DUNLIN (WINTKK). 



Broad billed 



Sandpiper 



(Tringa 



platyrhyneha). 



The dunlin occupies a somewhat intermediate posi- 

 tion between the curlew-sandpiper on the one hand, 

 and the broad-billed sandpiper, or broad-billed stint, 

 as it is sometimes called, on the other ; and it 

 is this connection which justifies the inclusion of 

 the latter in the genus Tringa, of which it is the last British representa- 

 tive. It should be mentioned, however, that many ornithologists who 

 regard the genus Tringa as including most of the species here placed 

 within its limits .separate the broad-billed sandpiper as the representa- 

 tive of a genus apart, under the name of Liniicola p/a/yr/iyncha. The 

 present species, which is such a rare straggler to the Briti.sh Islands 

 that the writer has felt some hesitation in placing its name in an in.set, 

 is a much more snipe-like bird than any of the preceding species, 

 although it resembles other sandpipers in the position of the eye and 

 in having a double change of plumage. As its name implies, it is 

 .specially characterised by the expansion of the stout beak, which is as 

 broad as high, and tapers to an awl-like point, with a slight downward 



