Family CHARADRIID^:. Genus Tringa. 



Subfamily Scolo pacing. 



PURPLE SANDPIPER. 



TRINGA MARITIMA— GOTd-Zw. 



Geographical Distribution. — British . Fairly common 

 winter visitor, locally distributed on all parts of the coast suited 

 to its requirements, including the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the 

 Shetlands. Equally as well known in Ireland as in the rest of the 

 United Kingdom. Many birds may probably pass our coasts in 

 spring and autumn ; some few remain in the British Islands 

 through the summer — a fact which has given rise to the belief 

 that this species occasionally nests with us ; but no authentic 

 case has yet been discovered. It is not improbable that odd 

 pairs may do so in the Orkneys and Shetlands, and in the Outer 

 Hebrides. Young birds, scarcely fledged, have, it is said, been 

 obtained on the Fame Islands ; but this proves nothing, for 

 young Knots, with flakes of down still adhering to their plumage, 

 have been observed on the British coasts. The Purple Sandpiper 

 is much rarer some years than others, especially during mild 

 northern winters ; and at no time are the migrations of this 

 species very extended. Foreign . Circumpolar region. Breeds in 

 Iceland, the Faroes, Spitzbergen, and Nova Zembla, on the Taimyr 

 peninsula, on the coast of Behring Strait, and across Arctic 

 America to Greenland. In the extreme north of its range it 

 appears to be migratory, but in the southern limits, as, for 

 instance, in South Greenland, Iceland, the Faroes, and the coast 

 of Norway it is resident. It winters on the southern coasts of 

 the North Sea, and in small numbers on the northern shores 

 of the Mediterranean and on the Kurile Islands, south of 

 Kamtschatka. The American birds appear to winter round the 



