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THE PURPLE SANDPIPER.
THINGJ MJRITIMA, BRUNN.
PLATE CCLXXXIV. ADULT IN SUMMER AND IN WINTER.
I AM surprised that my worthy friend THOMAS NUTTALL speaks of
this species as being scarcely ever seen in the United States, where, to my
knowledge, it is on the contrary very abundant, and nowhere more so
than in the neighbourhood of the Harbour of Boston, in the markets of
which city it is sold in autumn and winter. When I was there, a gunner
whom I employed brought me several dozens, which he had killed
in the course of a single afternoon. I have also seen some in the markets
of New York. Farther south, however, they are rarely met with.
Timid though not shy, they are seen in flocks of eight or ten, on the
rocky shores of the sea. They seem to shun sandy beaches, and seldom
advance far inland. While I was on the Bay of Fundy, I observed numerous
small flocks winging their way northward, in the month of May.
On one occasion, a flock alighted almost at my feet, so that I was obliged
to retire to a proper distance before shooting at them.
Their flight is pretty rapid, and when necessary sustained, for I have
observed them flying in compact bodies across the Gulf of St Lawrence.
When started along the shores, they emit a feeble meet, which is repeated
two or three times, take a sweep over the water, and return to the same
spot or near it, somewhat in the manner of the Spotted Sandpiper. They
are generally very busy while searching for food, run nimbly with the
body lowered on the legs, which are much bent, go to the edge of the
water, seize on small shell-fish, shrimps and worms, and search industriously
among the sea-weeds for marine insects. Their marked predilection
for rocky shores has caused them to be named " Rock Snipes11 by the
gunners of our eastern coast. In autumn and winter the young birds
become fat, and afford delicate eating.
I was sadly disappointed at not finding them breeding on any part
of the coast of Labrador which I visited, the more so because Dr
RICHARDSON says' they are abundant on the shores of Hudson's Bay,
where they breed. He gives no description of the nest or localities on
which they deposit their eggs, which are said to be " pyriform, 16| lines
PURPLE SANDPIPER. 559
long, and an inch across at their greatest breadth. Their colour is yellowish
grey, interspersed with small irregular spots of pale brown, crowded
at the obtuse end, and rare at the other.11
TRINGA MARITIMA, Ch. Bonaparte, Synopsis of Birds of the United States, p. 318 —
Swains, and Richards. Fauna Bor. Amer. part ii. p. 382.
PURPLE SANDPIPER, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 115.
Adult in summer. Plate CCLXXXIV. Fig. 1.
Bill longer than the head, almost straight, subulate, compressed at the
base, flexible ; upper mandible with the dorsal line almost straight, being
slightly deflected towards the end, the ridge narrow and convex, towards the
end broader, the sides sloping, the edges rather obtuse. Nostrils basal, lateral,
linear; nasal groove extending to near the end of the bill. Lower
mandible with the angle long and very narrow, the dorsal line beyond it
slightly concave, the sides sloping upwards with a narrow groove, the tip
rounded.
Head rather small, oblong, compressed. Neck shortish. Body full.
Feet of moderate length, slender ; tibia bare for a short space; tarsus rather
short, compressed, anteriorly covered with scutella, laterally reticulated
; toes of moderate length, excepting the first, which is very small,
third longest and including the claw longer than the tarsus, fourth slightly
longer than second; fore toes scutellate above, without webs at the
base, the middle one with an inner thickish margin, the lateral each with
an outer one ; claws considerably curved, compressed, obtuse, that of hind
toe very small, of middle toe largest, with a dilated thin inner edge.
Plumage soft, blended, on the back rather compact, the feathers rounded.
Wings rather long, pointed ; primaries tapering, rounded, the first
longest, the second slightly shorter ; outer secondaries short, obliquely
truncate, inner elongated and tapering. Tail short, rounded, the central
feathers elongated.
Bill deep orange, towards the end dusky. Edges of eyelids grey, iris
orange. Feet light orange, claws dusky. Head greyish-brown tinged
with purple, its sides and those of the neck deep purple; back and wings
brownish-black, with purple reflections, the margins of the feathers white;
quills brownish-black, their shafts, the tips of all the secondaries, and the
greater part of the middle ones, white; middle tail-feathers brownishblack,
tinged with purple, the lateral shaded into ash-grey. Upper part