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FLYING IN CURVES. 
dusky with orange at the base ; the feet are dull yellow. 
In winter the upper parts of the plumage are of a glossy 
purplish black, with light grey margins to the feathers ; the 
head, cheeks, sides, and fore parts of the neck are light 
purplish grey, streaks of which may be observed on the sides 
and lower tail coverts ; the throat, part of the breast, and 
belly are white. In summer the back remains much the 
PURPLE SANDPIPER. 
same, except that the feathers are margined with light red 
and tipped with white ; pale red also margins the head 
feathers, and streaks and spots of dusky grey are seen on 
the white under parts. 
These birds appear on our coasts in small flocks about 
the middle of October, and remain until the end of spring. 
*They fly in curves,' ^ays Macgillivray, ^sweeping over the 
sea when removing fi-om one place to another, and now 
and then emitting a faint shrill cry, in the manner of the 
Dunlins, which they also closely resemble in their mode of 
walking, or rather running along the shore, where they 
search the rocks and fens for small testaceous mollusca, or 
crabs and onisci. No instance of their breeding in this 
country has yet been recorded.' Dr. liichardson says, that 
they breed on the shores of Hudson Bay, where they are 
common. They lay eggs of a greyish yellow colour with 
small irregular spots of pale brown, crowded at the obtuse end, 
and spare at the other. Although not rare during the period 
