118 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
are in Iceland, in Norway, Spitzbergen, and Nova 
Zembla, and on various parts of the north Siberian 
coasts, and in Arctic America to Greenland. 
It arrives at its nesting grounds in May or June. 
These are rarely situated far from the sea, although 
in the Faroes it retires to the fells, where it begins 
to nest even before the snow has all melted. The 
nest is but a shallow depression, scantily lined with 
scraps of withered vegetation, and is made either 
close to the beach on broken ground, covered with 
a sparse vegetation, or in some marshy spot on a 
hill in the vicinity of the ocean. The Purple Sand- 
piper may pair for life, as there is some evidence to 
show that it returns annually to certain spots, to 
breed. The four eggs are pale olive- or buffish- 
brown, beautifully blotched and spotted, mottled 
and streaked with blackish- and reddish-brown and 
gray. The sitting bird lingers long upon her nest, 
sometimes remaining till almost trodden upon before 
she starts up, and, by feigning lameness, seeks to 
draw the intruder away. So closely is the Purple 
Sandpiper attached to the coast, that even during 
the nesting season, when its duties call it more or 
less inland, it always visits the shore to feed. In 
summer plumage, the upper parts are marked with 
rich chestnut, and in winter dress, the underparts 
are more spotted. 
There are certain other Limicoline birds found 
upon our coasts, more or less frequently, which at 
least deserve some passing notice; but as they are 
