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SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — ARQUATELLA. 



219 



the succeeding year lie had not observed any up to the 1st of October, wlien he left 

 the country. Mr. Dull procured a .singh? bird of thia specie,s a mile or tw(j below 

 N'ldato, on the Yukon, and another at Tastolik, but did not find the nest or eggs. 

 Ik' also itroeured a specinien on St. CJeorge's Island, in Jiehring's Sea, M'here it was 

 conunou on the dry uplands and on the hills. liisehoff found this species plentiful 

 at Sitka, and also at Plover ]>ay, on the Asiatics side of Behring's Straits. Mr, Dall 

 I'onnd it a resident of the Aleutian Islands, where it was abundant ah)ng the shore 

 throughout the year, in all tlif islands from Unalashka to the Shuniagins. Its nest 

 and eggs he was n<jt able to discover. 



This bird visits the Faroe Islands, Iceland, (Jreenland, Si)itzbergen, and Xova 

 Zembla. Von iJaer, in his description of the animal life of the last-named place, 

 mentions the Purple Sandpiper as one of the eight species of birds found there. ]Mr. 

 Cr. (rillett (" Il)is,"' 1870) also mentions finding this species on Nova Zemlila, Avliere it 

 was very common both in ^Matthew's Strait and on the eastern coast. One came on 

 hoard during a storm, and was caught in the hand. AVhen released, it did not ofl'er 

 to fly away, but remained on board two days. Herr von Ileuglin also mentions (''Ibis," 

 bS72) that he found this species ver}- common, and generally in pairs, in this same 

 region. In the autumn it occurred in smaller or larger flocks, and often mingled with 

 tlie PelidiKt rhivhtft and the Trhir/a mlihutu. On the 8th of August he found nest- 

 liugs still very small, and covered with down. The Messrs. Evans and Sturge found 

 the Purple Sand[)iper very abundant at Coal Bay in Si)itzbergen, and secured four 

 of its nests. These were on the surface of the high field, and they are said to 

 have been beautiful little structures, built deej) in the ground, and lined with stalks 

 of grass and leaves of the dwarf birch {lictuhi nana). They each contained four 

 eggs of an olive-gretui, handsomely mottled with a purplish-brown, chiefly at the 

 larger end. The writers state that they watched with much interest this elegant 

 little bird as it waded into small pools of snow-water, or ran along the shingle, every 

 now and then raising its wings ovt-r its back and exhil)iting the delicate tint of the 

 luuler side, at the same time uttering its loud shrill whistle. Professor Alfred New- 

 ton also met with this species on Spitzbergen, where he found it abundant along the 

 coast as far north as Brandywine Bay. Dr. ^^lalmgren informed Professor Newton 

 that on a former voyage he liad observed a flock of this bird on the shores of Kobbe 

 l>ay as early as ^lay 28. He afterward saw it in the interior of Stor Fiord, and on 

 Bear Island. According to I'rofessor Newton, it is common everywhere in Iceland 

 in the neighborhood of the coast, and is occasionally to be seen inland, where it also 

 breeds. According to Faber, it is a resident of Iceland throughout the year, and is 

 said to hatch its eggs about the middle of June. It is given by Dr. Middendorff as 

 one of the birds of Siberia, and is included in the list of those that go to the Far 

 North. 



They are also mentioned by Dr. Eeinhardt as occurring in Greenland, and appear 

 to have been observed on all the voyages of Sir Edward Parry. On the first of these 

 tliey were seen abundant in Davis's Straits and Baffin's Bay ; during the second they 

 were noticed on the rocks, at low-water mark, on Winter Island, in June ; on the 

 third they were observed at Port Bo^ven, and on the fourtli were found abundant 

 along the shores of Hecla Cove, Sir James C. Boss adding tliat they Avere seen in 

 considerable numbers near Fury Point. Ilichardson states that this species breeds 

 abundantly on Melville Peninsida and on the shores of Hudson's Bay. He describes 

 its eggs as pyriform, IG.uO lines long, and an inch across in its greatest breadth. 

 The ground-color is said to be of a yellowish gray, interspersed with small irregular 

 spots of pale hair-brown, crowded at the obtuse end, and rare at the other. 



