BIRDS OF 



and feet blackish. Young : above, clear ash, with numerous black and white 

 semicircles ; below white, more or less tinged with reddish, dusky speckled 

 on breast, wavy barred on sides. Length, lo-ii ; wing, 6-6^ ; tail, 2j, nearly 

 square ; bill about ij (very variable). 



Hab. Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in high northern lattitudes, but 

 visits the Southern Hemisphere during its migrations. 



This is the largest and handsomest of the Sandpipers ; 

 though said to be common along the sea coast it is only an occa- 

 sional visitor inland. The specimen in my collection I killed 

 many years since on the mudd}' shore of one of the inlets of the 

 bay. I did not see it again till May, 1884, when K. C. Mcll- 

 wraith killed four very fine specimens m a moist vegetable 

 garden on the beach. Dr. Wheaton met with it only once in 

 Ohio, and it is not mentioned in the List of the Birds of W'estern 

 Ontario, from which it may be inferred that we are not on the 

 line of its migrations. In distribution it has a wide range; 

 in the fall large flocks, which are supposed to come from Ice- 

 land visit the east coast of Scotland. It is also reported from 

 Australia, New Zealand and South America. 



Subgenus ARQUATELLA Baird. 



90. TRINGA MARITIMA Brunn. 235. 



Purple Sandpiper, 



Bill little longer than the head, much longer than the tarsus, straight or 

 nearly so ; tibial feathers long, reaching to the joints ; though the legs are 

 really bare a little way above ; adult, above ashy-black with purplish and 

 violet reflections, most of the feathers with pale or white edgings ; second- 

 aries mostly white ; line over eye, eye-lids and under-parts white, the breast 

 and jugulum a pale cast of the color of the back, and sides marked with the 

 same. In winter, and most immature birds, the colors are similar but much 

 duller ; very young birds have tawny edgings above, and are mottled with 

 ashy and dusky below. Length, 8-9 inches ; wing, 5 ; tail, 2§, rounded; bill, 

 I J ; tarsus, J ; middle toe, i, or a little more. 



Hab. Northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere ; in North 

 America chiefly the northeastern portions breeding in the high north, 

 migrating in winter to the Eastern and Middle States, the Great Lakes, and 

 the shores of the larger streams in the Mississippi Valley. 



The eggs are said to be four in number ; clay-color, shaded with olive 

 and marked with rich umber-brown. 



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