I9IO. WILI.IAMS. — The Sanderlmg of Diiblm Bay. 217 



Bojme River. About a mile further on I met with another party 

 of six Sanderling, thes^ also flew towards the Boyne ; and near 

 La3'town, about three miles from Drogheda, I came across yet 

 another party of seven. On the strand there I was surprised 

 to find a flock of nearly fifty small w^aders, they were nearly 

 all black-breasted Dunlin, but there were twenty Ringed 

 Plover, and amongst the latter were several young birds of 

 the year. I continued my w^alk as far as Balbriggan, but only 

 met with one Sanderling. On July 2Sth I again walked to 

 the Shelly Bank, Dublin Ba}-, and found that the flock of 

 Dunlin had swelled in numbers up to three hundred. Ringed 

 Plover had increased to forty, and I was able to separate and 

 count a flock of fifty Sanderling. 



The month of July, 1908, was remarkable for the unusual 

 number of Sanderling that came under notice. On the 6th I 

 visited the Shelly Bank and was successful in meeting with two 

 birds, one had the summer plumage well marked, the other 

 was quite free from any trace of red, its dress was pale grey 

 with the darker markings well shown. 



I had now reached the third year of my observations, con- 

 stantly meeting with the two different phasesof plumage amongst 

 the birds throughout the months of July in each 3^ear, and T 

 came to the conclusion, though I have a strong objection to 

 take away life, that the only w^ay to throw ^iglit on the problem 

 was to endeavour to obtain some specimens for examination 

 and comparison. On the 12th of July a flock was met with at 

 the old haunt, the Shelly Bank, from which one specimen 

 (now in the Irish National Museum) was obtained — there 

 were ten birds in this flock. This specimen was one of the 

 grey birds which so puzzled me on many occasions, and was 

 in a most interesting stage of plumage. I found the feathers 

 verj^ much worn and abraded as well as faded, especially on 

 the head and back, giving these parts a dark mottled appear- 

 ance. The sides of the neck were pale yellowish grey, with 

 dots and streaks of a darker shade. Even so early as the 12th 

 the winter pale grey feathers were making their appearance 

 over the back, altogether the plumage was most unusual and 

 differed from any in my collection. I also compared it with 

 a friend's specimens, and with set-up birds in the National 

 Museum, Dublin, and by the kindness of the authorities with 

 their collection of skins, but failed to find any similarly 



