402 BIRD-LIFE OF THE BORDERS 



These are all young- of the year, and though they have 

 come from the outer limits of the known world, yet 

 some still have down adhering- to their feathers. Adults 

 are unknown in Northumberland, whether in spring or 

 autumn. On the Solway two adults were shot, in full 

 summer-dress, in the last week of May 1833. 



Sanderling.' — Reversing the case of g-odwit, curlew- 

 sandpiper, and grey plover — yet agreeing with that of the 

 knot — the adult sanderling- arrives here before the young, 

 appearing in considerable, though varying abundance, 

 during the early days of August. The young sanderlings 

 (some still exhibiting filaments of down) hardly show up 

 before the 20th, and already by that date the adults 

 have passed on and disappeared ! The immature remain 

 throughout September, and by the end of that month, 

 are acquiring the plain grey dress of winter. They then, 

 in turn, pass on, only a very few wintering- here. 



In spring, on the Northumbrian coast, sanderlings 

 again become numerous, northward-bound. These are 

 in full summer-plumag-e, and the passage occurs during- 

 May and even continues well into June. 



On the Solway, curiously, their movements differ. 

 There, no adult sanderlings are seen on the autumn 

 passage : though the young appear exactly as they do on 

 the east coast. Yet on the spring-passage in May, adults 

 are even more abundant than on this side ! 



Greenshank. — Arrives by mid-August, all young of 

 the year ; and all have passed on southwards by mid- 

 September. We have never met with one later than the 

 1 8th; and adult greenshanks, like adult curlew-sand- 

 pipers, are wholly unknown on this coast, whether in 

 spring or autumn. In southern Spain, they occur 

 commonly on northward passage in May, and are then 



