THE SANDERLINGS. 263 



captured near Godhaab and also in Lat. 8i° 38' N. by Dr. 

 Bessels, of the '" Polaris." Mr. Howard Saunders, from whose 

 "Manual" I have gathered the above records of facts, sums up 

 the breeding range as follows : — " Mr. MacFarlane killed a 

 female from the first authenticated eggs on the barren grounds 

 near Anderson River. Westward, it ranges to North Alaska, 

 and; following up its circum-polar distribution, it has been found 

 on the Liakof Islands, Taimyr Peninsula, in the Yenesai delta, 

 on Waigats and Novaya Zemlya, and it probably breeds near 

 the mouth of the Petchora." 



Habits. — When seen at large, the Sanderling bears considerable 

 resemblance to the Dunlin, and might be taken for that bird 

 by anyone who is unaccustomed to its appearance and ways. 

 The generally whiter look of the Sanderling, however, will 

 distinguish it, as a rule ; its pure white breast giving it a lighter 

 appearance than the Dunlins, with which it often associates. It 

 is also found in flocks of considerable size, consisting entirely 

 of its own species, and isolated individuals are also often seen 

 running about on the margins of the pools left in the sand by 

 the receding tide. The species is, indeed, very often to be 

 found on the extreme margin of the tide, running about on the 

 edge of the water, and actively picking up its food, which 

 consists of tiny molluscs, sea-worms, &c. Colonel Feilden 

 states that in Grinnell Land he found it, like the Knot, feeding 

 on the buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia, and on insects. The 

 note uttered by the bird as it flies off is like the syllable wick^ 

 very diff'erent from the " skreaking " note of the Dunlin. 



Nest. — The one which Colonel Feilden found in Grinnell 

 Land was discovered by him on the 24th of June, at a height 

 of several hundred feet above the sea ; it was situated on a 

 gravel ridge and was merely a depression in the centre of a 

 recumbent plant of Arctic Willow, and was lined by a few dead 

 leaves and catkins. The nest found by Mr. MacFarlane, near 

 the Anderson River in Arctic America, was lined with a little 

 dried grass and leaves. 



Eggs. — Four in number. Colonel Feilden's specimen in the 

 British Museum is of a pale olive-brown ground-colour, with 

 faint spots and mottlings of brown, with violet-grey underlying 

 spots, very indistinct. All the spots and mottlings are very 

 slightly indicated. Axis, 1*4 inch; diam. i"o. 



