Calidris maritima
Order Charadriiformes
Family Scolopacidae
Subfamily Arenariinae
Other names: Winter Snipe
Adult in winter.— Upper parts dark gray, with a bluish gloss in strong light; throat and breast dark gray; belly and under sides of the wings white; sides streaked with dark gray.
The Purple Sandpiper, or Winter Snipe of the gunners, occurs as a winter visitant to the rocky shores of New England and of Long Island, arriving in September and leaving in February or March. It finds its food on rocky ledges exposed by the falling tide, and occurs most frequently on small outlying rocky islets, such as Gull Rocks at Cohasset, Mass., and Cormorant Rock, south of Rhode Island. It is generally found in small flocks, which permit a very near approach. Its note is a whistling twitter. The fact that no other sandpiper occurs in such localities in winter makes it very easy to identify, even if its grayish color, short legs, and squat figure did not distinguish it.
Hoffmann – A Guide to the Birds of New England and Eastern New York (1904)