The first sandpiper observed by me the following spring was of this species, a solitary male collected on June 2, 1925, at Nettilling Lake. The lakes were still ice-bound and the land mostly covered with snow, but here and there were small open pools. Along the border of one of these the bird was feeding in the thin layer of thawed mud among the grassy hummocks. On June 11, in the same locality near the Takuirbing River, several were observed and collected. When flushed they emit a grating ick-ick-ick and when not too hard pressed will often light again a few yards away. They flush sluggishly, and when not come upon too abruptly will frequently elevate the wings leisurely above the back, as though stretching them before taking flight. On the whole, at this time, they were comparatively fearless and permitted close approach. Only one was observed giving a vocal performance on the wing. It rose slowly from the ground to a height of 15 or 20 feet and leisurely flying over the tundra gave a series of low, musical staccato notes resembling to-wit-to-wit-to-wit-to-wit, etc. The performance continues unbrokenly while the bird remains in the air over a distance of 25 or 30 yards.
Nesting.—Rev. Henry H. Slater (1898) says:
In the extreme north the nest is often quite close to the sea, little above high-water mark. But in Iceland and at the southern borders of its breeding range generally the purple sandpiper usually nests on the fells. My first nest, from which I shot the female mentioned above, was near the top of a high ridge in north Iceland, nearly 1,600 feet above sea level, on a small bare patch of recently uncovered ground amongst snow fields; it was a slight hollow in a withered tuft of Dryas octopetala, and rather a substantial nest for a wader, consisting of a good handful of leaves of Dryas and Salix lanata, a little short grass, two white ptarmigan's feathers and a few of the parents'.
W. C. Hewitson (1856) quotes Mr. Wolley as saying that in the Faeroes, "it breeds sparingly on the very tops of high mountains, where I found its young at the end of June still unable to fly."
Messrs. E. Evans and W. Sturge (1859) found the purple sandpiper breeding in Spitsbergen; they say:
The purple sandpiper (Tringa maritina, Brünn.) was very abundant in Coal Bay (on the south side of Ice Sound, so named on account of a small quantity of poor coal being found there), and we found four of their nests on the high field. Beautiful little nests they were, deep in the ground, and lined with stalks of grass and leaves of the dwarf birch (Betula nana, L.), containing mostly four eggs of an olive green, handsomely mottled with purplish brown, chiefly at the larger end. We watched this elegant little bird—the only one of the Grallatores we saw—with much interest as it waded into some pool of snow water or ran along the shingle, every now and then raising its wings over its back and exhibiting the delicate tint of the under side, at the same time uttering its loud shrill whistle.
No recent accounts of the nesting habits of this species seem to have been published and the data on eggs in collections seem to be rather scanty. I have never found a nest myself. Both sexes are said to incubate the eggs and share in the care of the young. The period of incubation is over 20 days.
Eggs.—A very good description of the eggs is given by Seebohm (1884) as follows: