430 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 
the throat and breast very pale ash-grey, with dark 
streaks in the centres of the feathers; the rest of the 
under parts white. 
The summer plumage is as follows:—The head 
and nape streaked with rusty and black; feathers of 
the back, scapulars, rump and tail-coverts black, 
margined with rich rusty; the rest of the upper 
parts the same as in winter; the chin white; the 
front part of the neck and breast white, streaked 
with black; the lower part of the breast and the 
belly as far back as the thighs black; the rest of the 
under parts white; the legs, toes and claws always 
black. Birds killed in the spring and autumn are in 
every possible state of change between these two 
plumages, and consequently often puzzle the young 
ornithologist, who of course immediately flatters 
himself he has got something very rare, and is pro- 
portionately disgusted at being told it is only a 
Purre, which he never believes. 
The egg is pear-shaped; of a pale olive-brown 
ground, thickly spotted and blotched at the larger 
end with dark brown; the spots at the smaller end 
are paler and much more thinly scattered. 
PurpLE SANDPIPER, T'ringa maritima. ‘The Pur- 
ple Sandpiper occasionally makes its appearance on 
our coast, sometimes singly and sometimes in small 
flocks, probably the old pair and their brood. It is 
a migratory bird, only making its appearance here in 
the winter, and never remaining to breed. 
