RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 581 



our way to Labrador we saw flocks of these birds passing, but we found 

 none breeding in that country. My friend Mr Macgilliveay has given 

 me the following account of the habits of this species during the breed- 

 ing season. 



" About the middle of April, the Purres betake themselves to the 

 moors, in the northern parts of Scotland, and in the larger Hebrides, 

 where they may be found scattered in the haunts selected by the Golden 

 Plovers, with which they are so frequently seen in company that they 

 have obtained the name of Plovers' Pages. In the Hebrides, from this 

 season until the end of August, none are to be found along the shores. 

 The nest is a slight hollow in a dry place, having a few bits of withered 

 heath and grass irregularly placed in it. The eggs, four in number, are 

 ovato-pyriform, an inch and four-twelfths in length, eleven-twelfths in 

 breadth, oil-green or light greenish-yellow, irregularly spotted and blotch- 

 ed with deep brown, the spots becoming more numerous toward the larger 

 end, where they are confluent. The young, like those of the Golden Plo- 

 ver and Lapwing, leave the nest immediately after exclusion, run about, 

 and when alarmed, conceal themselves by sitting close to the ground and 

 remaining motionless. If at this period, or during incubation, a person 

 approaches their retreats, the male especially, but frequently the female 

 also, flies up to meet the intruder, settles on a tuft near him, or runs along 

 and uses the same artifices for decoying him from the nest or young as 

 the Plover or Ring Dotterel. When the young are fledged, the birds 

 gather into small flocks, which often in the evenings unite into larger, and 

 join those of the Golden Plover. They rest at night on the smoother 

 parts of the heath, and both species, when resting by day, either stand or 

 lie on the ground. When one advances within a hundred yards of such 

 a flock, it is pleasant to see them stretch up their wings as if preparing 

 for flight, utter a few low notes, and immediately stand on the alert, or 

 run a few steps. At this season, however, they are not at all shy. To- 

 wards the end of August, the different colonies betake themselves to 

 the sandy shores. On a large sand-ford in Harris, I have at this sea.son 

 seen many thousands at once, running about with extreme activity in 

 search of food. This place seemed a general rendezvous, and after a few 

 weeks the host broke up and dispersed, few if any remaining during the 

 winter." 



