SNIPES, ETC. 67 



Bonaparte's Sandpiper is a large bird and a 

 common autumn visitant. 



The Sanderling (Calidris arenaria) is a light- 

 colored Sandpiper, larger than a Ring-neck Plover. 

 It appears in numbers on the sea -washed reefs 

 and dunes of our northern coast, during the 

 autumnal migrations, while the young are in their 

 immature plumage. They are very quiet birds, 

 running along the sands ahead of the traveller, 

 bobbing down to pick up seeds or insects, utter- 

 ing a soft, suppressed peep^ to preserve the 

 company of the flock, and caring little while they 

 are a stone's throw in advance of the intruder. 

 Its presence does much, in the late autumn, to 

 relieve the dreariness of the storm - lashed, desolate 

 dunes by the sea. 



The ^Villet ( Symphemia se7nipalmata ) is a large 

 Sandpiper, being sixteen inches in length. It is 

 light - ash, speckled with dusky above, and white 

 below. Willets are restless and noisy birds, mak- 

 ing themselves well known round the marsh which 

 they frequent, but they are not common with us. 



The Greater Yellow - legs is a bird something 

 less in size than the Willet and of darker color, 

 but possessing the same gaunt, long - nosed appear- 



