J.GduUL fcJIGHichtcr, deb eO tUlu
Purple Sandpiper.
Trmga maritima, Brünn. Orn. Bor., no. 182.
nigricans, Moot. Lino. Trans., vol. iv. p. 40, pi. 2.
striata, Flern. Hist, of Brit. Anim., p. 110.
arquatella, Ball. Z o o Rösso-Asiat., tom. ii. p. 190.
' ■ : Canadensis, Lath. Ind. Orn., Supp. p. 65.
littoralis, Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., p. 652.
Totantu mantinme, Steph. Gont. of Shaw’s Gen. Zool., vol. xii. p. 146.
Tringa ( ArquateUa ) maritima, Baird, Cat. of N. Amer. Birds in Mus. Smiths. Inst., p. xlvii. no. 528.
T his ford, although nowhere very numerous in the British Islands, is nevertheless sufficiently abundant in
autumn, winter, and spring to entitle it to be regarded as a common species; it is sometimes met with in
flocks, but more often in smaller numbers, in all the rocky parts o f our shores, from north to south, from
Cornwall to «be Orkneys, and apparently evinces no preference for the eastern over the western coasts.
It is less numerous in Ireland than in England and Scotland. As the Dunlin loves muddy flats, and the Stint
slnngly shores, so the Purple Sandpiper delights to be among kelp, seaweed, and shelving billow-washed
beaches ; its short tarsi, long stout toes, and short, bulky body, as compared with the slender Dunlin, Stint,
and other shore-loving Sandpipers, indicate that it differs from them in its mode o f life. In confirmation of
this induction, I may mention that Mr. Gatcombe, of Plymouth, w r i t e s “ I have observed a peculiar habit
in the Purple Sandpiper when feeding on the rocks during rough weather. On seeing a large wave approach,
it crouches and holds on the rock, allowing the spray to dash completely over it, and, on the wave
receding, rises and displays the greatest activity in picking up its food until another wave compels it to
crouch again." A? the period the Purple Sandpiper visits us its trivial name is very applicable; for not only
does the whole o f the upper smrfjw e assume a purple tint, but the feathers of the back and rump are tinged
with violet: a change o f eolour, however, « very perceptibly going on before the bird leaves us in spring,
and by midsummer it* plumage j*-so metamorphosed as to give it the appearance of a totally different species.
From the crown o f the head to the lower p art o f the scapuiaries all the feathers are edged with chestnut and
white, while the purple winter colouring of their centres has given place to brownish black. In this dress,
however, it scarcely ever, if ever, appears in the British Islands; but in such a garb it is seen in Iceland, Spitz-
bergen, Greenland, and probably in the whole o f Arctic America; for every voyager who has written on the
avifauna o f those regions speaks o f it as a common summer-resident there. Messrs. Evans and Sturge, who
visited Spitsbergen in 1855, say:—“ The Purple Sandpiper (TUnga maritima, Briinn.) was very abundant
ill Oua) Bay. on tbe south side o f Ice Sound ; and we found four of their nests on the high fjeld. Beautiful
little nests they were, deep in the ground, and lined with stalks o f grass and leaves o f the Dwarf Birch
(BntiUa nan«, ), containing mostly four eggs, o f an olive-green, handsomely mottled with purplish brown,
chiefly a t the larger end. We watched this little bird with much interest as it waded into some pool of
snow-water or rua along the shingle, every now and then raising its wings o v er its back and exhibiting the
delicate tint o f the «underside, a t the same time uttering its loud shrill whistle.”—* Ibis,’ vol. i. p. 171.
Holboell, in hi* ftuHia of G reenland,’ says that it breeds throughout that country, that it “ disappears from
the sea-coast a t hvgmiung of Ju n e , and resorts to the tableland on the mountains-, where it remains a
short time in small flock- s»d thru goes in pairs to the breeding-places, which, though always at some distance
from the sea, are never Sw inland ■ it lays four eggs, and is very careful of its young ones.” That it also
breeds in the Faroe i - *>- is certain, the late Mr. Wolley having sent thence to Mr. Hewitson eggs
from which the old bird was and informed him that it there *' breeds sparingly on the very tpps o f high
mountains, where I found ii* yw-tng at the ««id o f June still unable to fly. One p air I remember particularly
was in the very midst o f a oufetty of Ski«,» > they stood upon large stones, in an easy attitude, but evidently
watching our movements. Fw rs this spot 1 an«« fur two years bad their eggs.”
“ Mr. Dann remarks, says Varrell, “ that, ««lifce the others o f this tribe, the Purple Sandpiper does not
^altogether quit the Scandinavian coast in win«y s% the ice accumulates and the sea freezes up, it betakes
itself to the outermost range of islands and rork*. with which that coast is so numerously studded, feeding
among the sea-weed left bare by the slight fall of the tide, nn the. marine insects which it finds at the edge
o f the water. 1 have procured specimens throughout the * inter on the Swedish coast, and during very severe
frosts. It is perfectly fearless. During windy weather, when not feeding, it seeks shelter in the crevices of
the rocks. Its plumage in winter is very thick, and the bird appears much larger than in summer."