I lO 



PLOVER GROUP 



in length, may be easily recognised by the black marbling, or speckling 

 on the inner webs of the primary quills of the wings. Of the recorded 

 British examples up to the close of last century, four are Irish and 

 the rest English — a very fair representative division, if we take size 

 of territory as a basis ! 



The " little bird frequenting sand}- coasts " is the ob- 

 vious meaning of the name of this well-known little 

 wader, which, together with the species last mentioned 

 and the stints, is frcqucntl>' referred to the snipe group, or Scalopacinre, 



Sanderling- 

 (Calidris arenaria) 



SAMJKkl.INGS. 



on account of the absence of webbing to the toes. All agree, however, 

 with the sandpijicrs in having a distinct summer and winter plumage, 

 and likewise in the fact that the eyes arc not placed unduly far back 

 in the head, and as these characters arc obviously far more important 

 and deep-seated than is the presence or absence of an incomplete web 

 to the toes, these birds are here included in the Totaninai. The sander- 

 ling is evidently nothing more than a stint which has lost the hind- 

 toe, but this is a character entitling it to be placed in a genus apart, 

 of which it is the sole representative. The sanderling is almost a 

 cosmopolitan bird, nesting in the high north all round the Pole, and in 

 winter wandering as far south as Africa, India, Burma, Australia, and 

 South America. The exact limits of the breeding-range are not at 

 present ascertained, but the species is known to nest in Grinnell-land 



