SANDPIPERS 65 
water, and comparatively long beaks. In breeding plumage 
the crown and nape are streaked black on pale chestnut, and 
the mantle black with pale chestnut margins. Upper tail- 
coverts dark brown, rump ash-brown. Tail ash-grey with 
central feathers dark brown. Wing-coverts mostly ash-grey, 
and the quills brownish-black with a white bar on the 
secondaries. Under-parts white, except for the black streaks 
on the forebreast, and the broad black of the lower breast. 
Legs black. After the autumn moult the upper-parts mostly 
wsh-brown, more or less streaked with dark grey, and the under- 
parts white. 
Nest. High-lying marshes or moorland, or low-lying rough 
pasture or marsh by the sea. A scrape in the ground, among 
xoarse grass, heather, or other herbage, lined with grasses. 
Eggs. Usually 4. Pear-shaped. From greenish to yellowish 
yw yellow-brown blotched, spotted, and streaked with dark 
grown, and underlying ash. Av. size, 1°34x°‘95 in. Laying 
yegins in May. Probably one brood only. 
130. Purple-sandpiper [Zrolia maritima maritima (Briin- 
rich) ; Tringa maritvma Gmelin]. A winter visitor and bird 
£ passage to our coasts, 
Bird. Length 84 in. See No. 129, . Distinguished from the 
receding species by the short yellow legs and darker plumage. 
‘‘n the breeding plumage the upper-parts are mostly black 
tlossed purple, with pale rufous or buff margins on the 
‘nantle. Secondaries show much white. Central tail-feathers 
lack glossed purple, the rest grey with narrow white margins 
«n the outermost. Under-parts whitish obscured by dark 
lrown streaks on the neck, breast, flanks, and under tail- 
coverts. After the autumn moult the feathers of the upper- 
parts are margined with dark grey. 
131. Knot [Erolia canutus (Linneus); Tringa canutus 
(Linneeus)]. Named after its hoarse grunting note: Knot or 
itnut. Winter visitor to our coasts and bird of passage. 
Some non-breeding birds remain through summer. 
Bird. Length 10 in. See No. 129. A marked difference 
between the breeding and winter plumage. LEasily dis- 
tinguished in breeding dress from the two preceding species 
by the rich bay or reddish-brown of the under-parts, head, and 
neck; the crown and hind-neck being, however, heavily 
streaked with black. Back black with bay margins. Wing- 
coverts mostly ash-brown margined chiefly with white. After 
the autumn moult the under-parts lose the bay and become 
white with greyish streaks. The upper-parts ash-grey with 
darker streaks. Upper tail-coverts, which in summer show 
more or less bay with white and some black, are now white 
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