of the breeding-season are occasionally met with either late in spring or

Examples in the rich red plumage
close of summer. Yarrell, who was well acquainted with

on their return from their breeding-grounds at the
our Norfolk coast, says :—‘ I have obtained this
Norfolk, and have seen the young from the same locality early in July.’ There is, of course, no reason to
suppose that this species has ever remained to breed in this country ; and the young birds above referred to
must have commenced their southward passage thus
the statement of Messrs. Gurney and Fisher, that they arrive ‘ about the end of July.’ ’
—‘ Although this species is very uncommon along our

bird in June, in the height of its summer plumage, from

early with their parents, which supposition agrees with
;

Macgillivray, writing of the bird in Scotland, says:
shores, it is probably not of so very rare occurrence
and sportsmen being apt to confound it with the Dunlin.
Firth of Forth in the beginning of September, and is occasionally met with at the mouth of the Esk, at
Musselburgh. Generally mingling with the Dunlins, it is hardly distinguishable from them, but when seen
the same habits as to its mode of searching the sands and mud for food,

as it is generally supposed to be, inattentive observers
It arrives in small flocks on the shores of the

apart is observed to have precisely
which it does by walking or running according to occasion, and patting or probing in them for small worms
and other marive animals, along with which it swallows
Its flight is rapid and light ; its ordinary cry a shrill scream, differing from the cry of the Dunlin.”

says it Is a regular autumnal migrant to the north of Ireland, where in winter it is of rare

fragments of quartz and other mineral substances.

Thompson
occurrence. September is its favourite month in Belfast Bay: the earliest arrival noted is the 25th of

August; before the end of September its departure is usually taken ; and it rarely remains until the end
of October.

«The numbers vary much in different years. In 1838 they were remarkably scarce. In the autumn of
1837 they were more common than usual, and numbers were shot; a flock of about twenty was once seen,
and out of a party of eight six were killed at one discharge. My informant distinguishes this species from
the Dunlin, when on the ground, by its superior size—in flight, from the lower part of the back being white
—or by its call, which is very different from that of its congener, and is said more to resemble that of the
Turnstone than of other shore-birds. In 1839 they were more plentiful than ever before known, and arrived
before the ordinary time, a couple having been shot on the 2nd of September. On the 7th of that month
a flock of from thirty to forty appeared ; and they increased until the 21st, when not less than a hundred
were seen in company with a large body of Dunlins, though generally, when a number are together, they do
not associate with other species. Occasionally about fifty or sixty would rise together from one extremity
of the flock, and, after flying about for a short time, would alight with the others. The noise produced
by their calls, especially when on wing, was very great. This large body subsequently proved to have been
collected together for migration, as they took their departure on that day from the bay, and not one was
seen again during that season. They usually keep to the shores of the bay; but in 1836 they frequented
the river Lagan, within flow of the tide at high water, in flocks. On the 6th of the latter month I
observed nine in company busily feeding at the edge of the river at Ormeau Bridge; in the following year
also, they frequented the tidal portion of the river.”

Mr. Wright states that the Curlew Sandpiper is common in spring and autumn in Malta; Lord Lilford,
that it occurs in Corfu occasionally in great numbers, and generally in full breeding-plumage, about the end
of May; Mr. Stimpson, that a muddy ditch near Mesolonghi is a favourite resort in spring; Mr. Howard
Saunders notes it as common in winter in Southern Spain, and the Rev. A. C. Smith in Portugal; and in
Italy Dr. Henry Giglioli informs us that Ancylocheilus subarquata, * in full nuptial dress, is brought alive in
latge numbers to the markets at Pisa; it is caught with nets, and thrives very well in captivity. I kept
nine or ten, for about three months, in a small enclosed space in a garden, where they had a little pool of
water; I fed them on bread and chopped meat, which they ate readily: and they were brisk and active all
the while I kept them, the males constantly fighting together just as Ruffs do.”

Mr. Layard notes that a living example, in full breeding-dress, was captured near Hope Town, South
Africa, on the 26th of April; and Mr. Gurney, that it frequents the Bay of Natal in considerable flights ;
Von Heuglin found it on the Red Sea from July to September in its summer dress, and young birds
alone and in small flocks, and between Bab-el-Mandeb and the Somali coast, in the winter dress, in October
and November. It was obtained in Palestine by the Rev. H. B. Tristram; Captain Irby found it in Oudh
and Kumaon during the cold season, in very large flocks, on the sandbanks of the rivers Gogra and Choka ;
and Mr. Jerdon states that it is found throughout India, is rare towards the south, but common about
Calcutta and the north of India generally.

The Plate represents two birds, of the size of life—one in the plumage of summer, the other in that of
winter. The plant is the Beta maritima, Linn.