I 
PURPLE SANDPIPER. 
WINTER SNIPE. ROCK SNIPE. 
TrINGA M.ARiriMA. 
Char. Distinguished from other Sandpipers by its short legs, short 
thick body, and dark color. Adult in summer ; upper parts brownish gray, 
darker on the back, which is spotted with rufous and bufSsh white ; rump 
and central tail-feathers dull brown, outer tail-feathers ashy gray ; wings 
grayish brown ; under parts gray, paler on the belly ; throat and breast 
thicl<ly spotted with dark brown. In winter the upper parts are purplish 
ash, and the breast ashy brown or mouse gray ; the belly white. Length 
variable, averaging about 8 J 4 inches. 
Usually amid a tuft of grass near a rocky sea-shore, but often 
on high hills; generally a little hollow scraped in the soil and lined with 
some moss or leaves ; but nests have been found composed of dried grass 
and sunk quite deep in the ground. 
4 ! olive, green or dull buff, marked with lilac and brown-; 
1.45 X I -00. 
The Purple Sandpiper is another of those wandering species 
common to the cold regions of both continents, confining its 
visits principally to the rocky and shelving sea-coasts, where it 
obtains in more abundance the minute Crustacea, mollusca, 
and the fry of shell-fish which adhere commonly to the sea- 
weeds or in such situations ; and so peculiar is this 
habit that in Holland, where it is now common, it has only 
appeared with the existence and advancement of the artificial 
moles which have been built. In Norway along the rocky 
