44 WILD-FOWL AND SEA-FOWL OF GREAT BRITAIN 



matter how many are killed, they are here in full 

 hosts again next season. 



The Purple Sandpiper has not been found breed- 

 ing in any part of Great Britain, although young 

 ones with nestling down among their feathers have 

 frequently been procured. This indeed proves no- 

 thing, as the young of other members of the Sand- 

 piper family have been found in the same condition. 

 That distant breeding haunt where they were hatched 

 out has not yet been discovered. 



This bird is known to breed in Iceland, the 

 Faroes, and other northern haunts. I have seen 

 many of these Purple Sandpipers in various stages 

 of plumage, some of them not far removed from 

 the full breeding plumage. This is not to be 

 wondered at, for it does not take them long when 

 their young are fit for flighting to dash over here 

 from their nearest northern breeding station. On 

 those parts of the coast that are suitable to them, 

 they may be seen nimbly running over the rocks 

 and boulders directly the waves break and recoil ; 

 in fact they follow the waves down, picking up their 

 food from off the tangle and weeds that cling to 

 them ; avoiding the thundering rush of the return- 

 ing waves in the most clever manner. 



The Purple Sandpiper can swim ; I never knew a 

 wader yet that could not do so when it was necessary. 

 Where lobsters, crabs, and congers are caught are 

 the parts where this bird may be looked for. 



Let me sketch one place where I have seen him. A 

 long line of dark brown and olive-green tinted rocks, 



