266 BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND AND EASTERN NEW YORK 



bellied Plover has the same mark, but the bird is of a very 

 different figure, with a bill only half as long. The Summer 

 Yellow-legs, which is here during July and September, 

 resembles its relative very closely, and if the two are not 

 present at the same time, might be mistaken for the larger 

 bird. The call of the Summer Yellow-legs, however, is al- 

 most always shorter ; it utters often but a single ku, often 

 two (the second lower than the first), more rarely three. 

 The Winter Yellow-legs is always a wary bird, much less 

 tame than the Summer Yellow-legs. 



Sanderling. Calidris arenaria 



8.00. Bill 1.00 



Ad. in spring. — Upper parts grayish-white, each feather spotted 

 with black, and edged with chestnut; rump dark brown; tail gray- 

 ish-brown; sides of head, throat, neck, breast washed with rusty 

 brown, and spotted with black; rest of under parts white; wings 

 when spread show a line of white. Ad. in late summer and fall. — 

 Upper parts pale gray, the centre of each feather black; under 

 parts pure white. Im. — Upper parts gray, spotted with black 

 and white ; hind neck dusky white ; throat and breast washed with 

 buff; rest of under parts white ; wings as in ad. 



The Sanderling is a very common migrant along the 

 coast in spring and fall ; it winters very sparingly on Cape 

 Cod and on Muskeget Island. It passes north in the latter 

 part of May, and returns from July to the end of October. 

 It is strictly a bird of the outer sandy beaches. A flock of 

 Sanderlings will often form a long line at the edge of the 

 water and follow the receding surf, probing the ground with 

 feverish haste, and all running back at the last moment ; 

 one or two are sometimes caught by the wave and forced 

 to fly. 



The Sanderling's note is a sharp chit. The gunners' 

 name, " Whitey," well describes the Sanderling, especially 

 in late summer and fall, when no trace of the rusty brown 

 remains. The whitish look about the head and the black 



