430 BIKDS 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, Tringa 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. 



