86 NATURAL HISTORY OF ARCTIC AMERICA. 



jiaid no attention wJiatevcr to us. Tlicy liad i)r()l)ably mistaken the 

 boat for a whale. 



They are m itliont doubt the most graceful of all birds on the water, so 

 light and buoyant that they do not seem to toueh the water. While 

 swimming, they are continuallj" nodding the head and tiu-ning from one 

 side to the other. They have greater i)owers of flight than eitlicr hyper- 

 horcus or icilsoni, and lly nnich mon; swiftly. In Cumberland, as well as 

 on the Greenland coast, they nest with hyptrhoreuH. 



Governor Fencker tells me they are not found as far noilli as Jtyper- 

 horcus; probably few breed above 75° N. lut. Arc coniinon on tlie out- 

 lying islands between Xugumeute and Hudson's Straits. About the 

 entraiice of Exeter Sound, on the east coast of Penny Peninsiila, are 

 some islands which the Eskimo call "Shatgak nuna" — I'halaropes 

 land — so they are probably very common there. 



When they begin nesting they live more on shore, and probably get 

 their food along the beaches at low tide. There is groat variation in 

 plumage, even among the ai)parently adult birds, in spring. 1 think it 

 quite probable that they do not attain their lull i»lumage the first year. 



34. Triuga miuutilla, Aitill. 



Noticed in Niantilic, September, 1877, au<l in Disko Fjord, Greenland, 

 August, 1878. 



35. Triuga fuscicollis, Vieill. 



Breeds in Kiugwah and Kingnite Fjords, and probably iu other suit- 

 able localities on both shores of Cumberland Sound. Considerable num- 

 bers were observed along the beach near Nuboyant, on the west shore, 

 in July; they were in all i)robability breeding. We were cruising close 

 to shore, but I could not land. 



36. Triiiga maritima, IJriiuu. 



" Sigercak,'' Cuuiberlaud Eskimo. " Sarbaraook," Grecnlaudei-s. 



The purple sandpiper is the first wader to arrive in spring and the 

 last to leave in autuiuu. The 4th of ,Iune is the earliest date 1 met them 

 at ,\uiiauactook; this was duiiug a heavy snow stonn, and the earliest 

 date possible that they could Innc found aii> of tlir rocks hare at low tide. 

 The tlock lit on the top of one of the small islands in the harbor, and 

 sheltered them.selves from the storm by creeping behind and underneath 

 ledges of rocks; thiy ihtn huddled togcthei like a Hock of quails in 

 winter. 1 liaxr ottcn noticed tiic same hal»it with them in late autumn, 

 whih^ they were wailing for low tide. They remained in the vicinity of 

 Annauactook till >«'ovember, — as late as they could find any exposed 



