T RING A MAR1TIMA. 
383 
uplands. Their notes are also peculiar, one cry in particular, being loudly given and great¬ 
ly prolonged, resembling the scream of a rapacious bird more than the whistle of a Sand¬ 
piper. As will be seen by the description, they present some anatomical features not shared 
in common with any other species of the group which I have examined. 
Bonaparte’s Sandpipers arrive from the North, a little later than the general flight of 
shore birds, appearing in September; then soon depart for the South. I once shot a spec¬ 
imen in Florida in winter, but this was the only one I ever saw in the State, neither did 
I ever see them further north at this season, so judge that they pass the winter south of 
the United States. They are quite rare in New England during spring; insomuch so, that 
the only specimens that I ever saw in the full summer plumage, were the two from the 
cabinets of Messrs. Dowse and Hapgood, which they procured at Chatham in the spring of 
1880. I think that authentic specimens of the eggs of this species are unknown. 
TRmGA MARITXMA. 
Purple Sandpiper. 
Tringa maritima Brunn., Orn. Bor.; 1764, 54. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Cn. Form, robust. Size, medium. Bill, straight, about as long as head, slender, and not widened at tip. Legs, 
short. Toes, without basal membrane. Tongue, long, thin, and slender, tapering toward tip which is pointed. Outer mar¬ 
ginal indentations, twice as deep as inner. 
Color. Adult. Above, dark smoky brown, becoming ashy on the neck and having a violet tinge on the back. AH 
the feathers, excepting primaries, .are edged with dark bluish-ash which becomes whitish on the wings. Outer tail feath¬ 
ers, ashy, tipped with white. Sides of head, neck all around, and upper breast, bluish-ash. Remainder of under parts, 
white, streaked with ashy everywhere, excepting on abdomen. Lower eyelid and spot in front of eye, white. 
Young. Similar to the adult but some of the feathers above are edged with yellowish and rufous. Bill, dark-brown, 
lighter at base, iris, brown, legs, greenish-yellow, in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
Known by the general dark bluish-ash color, violet tinging above, and short legs. Distributed, in summer, through¬ 
out the Arctic Regions. Winters along the coast of the Northern and Middle States. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements ofspecimens from Eastern North America. Length, 8'50; stretch, 14'50; wing, 525; tail, 2'25; 
bill, 1* 12; tarsus, ‘85. Longest specimen, 9 00; greatest extent of wing, 15 - 00- longest wing, 550; tail, 2'50; bill, 125; tar¬ 
sus, POO. Shortest specimen, 8'00; smallest extent of wing, 14'00; shortest wing, 5‘00: tail, 3 - 00; bill, POO; tarsus, ‘75. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Eggs, placed on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on a little grass, etc., three or four in number, decided¬ 
ly pyriform in shape, varying from yellowish-ash to greenish in color, spotted and blotched irregularly, and rather coarse¬ 
ly, with brown of varying shades. Dimensions from "90 x P30 to POOx 1'40. 
HABITS. 
The plumage of the Purple Sandpipers is particularly long and full, proclaiming that 
they are inhabitants of a boreal clime, and they are most emphatically birds of the North, 
few being found south of New Jersey and they are rare even that far south; in fact, the 
greater portion pass the winter north of Massachusetts, peopling the rocky, inhospitable 
shores of Maine $,nd New Brunswick. They arrive on Grand Menan late in October and grad¬ 
ually push their way southward. They appear to be somewhat limited in distribution in 
Massachusetts; thus they are not common north of Cape Ann but always occur in numbers 
on the rocky islands of Beverly Harbor. The note of the Purple Sandpipers is a feeble 
