THING A 777 



Btccisseau violet, French ; C/iurrilla, Siseta, Span. ; Piovanello 

 violetto, Ital. ; See-Strandlciufer, German ; Paarse-Strandlooper, 

 Dutch ; Selningr, Icel. ; Fjcercpist, Norweg. ; Vintersneppe, Dan. ; 

 Skarsnappa t Swed. ; Gadde-lirus, Lapp. ; Meri-sirriaimn, Finn. ; 

 Pesosclmik-morskoi, Russ. 



$ ad. (Greenland). Crown and nape b'ack striped with white and 

 ochreous ; sides of head dull white striped with blackish ; upper parts 

 black glossed with purple ; the mantle-feathers margined with white and 

 reddish ochreous ; the rump and middle tail-feathers uniform purplish 

 black, rest of the tail-feathers blackish grey ; quills blackish, the shafts 

 white, the outer secondaries tipped with, and the inner ones chiefly, 

 white ; throat white striped with blackish grey ; under parts white, the 

 flanks marked, and under tail-coverts striped with blackish grey; bill 

 ochreous at base, otherwise dark brown ; legs ochreous, iris brown. 

 Culmen 1'15, wing 4'7, tail 2'4, tarsus 0'9 inch. Sexes alike. In winter 

 the head and neck are sooty blackish faintly tinged with purple, the upper 

 parts purplish black, the mantle-feathers with narrow greyish margins ; 

 chin and under parts below the breast white, the flanks spotted with 

 blackish grey. 



Hal. Northern Europe, north to the North Cape, Iceland, 

 Greenland, and Spitsbergen, migrating south to the Mediter- 

 ranean in winter ; North America, breeding far north, and in 

 winter found south to the Middle United States ; has been met 

 with in North Asia as far east as the shores of the Taimyr 

 Peninsula. 



Is essentially a maritime bird, frequenting rocky places on 

 the sea coast, and is seldom met away from the sea except 

 during the breeding season, and even then it nests not far 

 away. Its food consists of marine insects, mollusca, and some- 

 times seeds of shore-plants. It swims with ease, and I have 

 known a bird to dive when wounded and pursued. The nest is 

 a mere depression in the ground, and the 4 eggs, which are 

 deposited from the middle of May to the early part of June, vary 

 in ground-colour from sea-green and greenish grey to stone-buff, 

 and are marked with purplish grey underlying, and dark reddish 

 brown surface spots and blotches, which are usually more 

 numerous at the larger end. In size they measure about T40 

 by 1-0. 



1076. SUBSP. TRINGA COUESI. 



Tr'mga couesi (Ridgway), Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, v. p. 160 (1880) ; 

 Nelson, Rep. Nat. Hist. Alaska, p. 103, pi. vi. ; Ridgway, p. 154 ; 

 (Sharpe), Cat. B. Br. Mus. xxiv. p. 583 ; Tacz. F. 0. Sib. 0. p. 905. 



