THE RED-BACKED SANDPIPER. 267 



we saw flocks of these birds passing, but we found none breeding in that 

 country. My friend Mr. Macgillivray has given me the following 

 account of the habits of this species during the breeding 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 irregu- 

 larly 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 blotched with deep brown, the spots 

 becoming more numerous toward the larger end, where they are confluent. 

 The young, like those of the Golden Plover and Lapwing, leave the nest 

 immediately after exclusion, run about, and when alarmed, conceal them- 

 selves 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 de- 

 coying 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. Towards the end of August, the different colonies betake them- 

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

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

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

 w r eeks the host broke up and dispersed, few if any remaining during the 

 winter." 



Tringa Cinclds and alpina, Linn. Syst. Nat., vol. i. p. 251, 429. 



Red-eacked Sandpiper, Tringa alpina, Wils. Amer. Orn., vol. vii. p. 5. 



Tringa alpina, Bonap. Syn., p. 317. 



Tringa alpina, American Dunlin, Swains, and Rich. F. Bor. Amer., vol. ii. p. 383. 



Dunlin or Ox-bird, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 106. 



Red-backed Sandpiper, Tringa alpina, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 580. 



Male, 81, 15. 



