584 SANDERLING. 



barren-grounds near Anderson River. Westward, it ranges to 

 North Alaska, and, following up its circumpolar distribution, it has 

 been found on the Liakov Islands, Taimyr Peninsula, Yenesei delta, 

 Waigats and Novaya Zemlya, and probably breeds near the mouth 

 of the Petchora. Except in the Baltic, where it is scarce, the 

 Sanderling is tolerably common on passage along the coasts of 

 Europe and of the Atlantic Islands, a certain number wintering in 

 the basin of the Mediterranean, while others continue southward to 

 Cape Colony and Natal ; it is plentiful from the Persian Gulf lo 

 Ceylon, Borneo and Java, and visits China, Japan, the Kurils, and 

 the Hawaiian Islands. In America, south of its summer-haunts, it 

 is found down to Patagonia and Chili. 



The nest found by Col. Feilden was a depression in the centre 

 of a recumbent plant of arctic-willow, on a gravel-ridge several 

 hundred feet above the sea ; the eggs were greenish-buff spotted 

 with brown, resembling pale specimens of those of the Curlew in 

 miniature: measurements 1*4 by i in. Like the Knot, this species 

 was feeding at its breeding-grounds on the buds of Saxifraga 

 opposiiifolia and also on insects, but the stomachs of birds shot in 

 this country generally contain slender sea-worms, small bivalves 

 and crustaceans, with a little gravel. The fat on the body is some- 

 times nearly a quarter of an inch in thickness. The Sanderling 

 not unfrequently associates with the smaller Plovers which frequent 

 sandy shores, and sometimes with Dunlins ; it may, however, be 

 easily recognized by the conspicuous whiteness of its under parts. 

 The note is a shrill wick. 



The adult in summer-dress (represented in the foreground) has 

 the feathers of the upper surface black or dark brown in their 

 centre, edged or spotted with rufous and slightly tipped with grey ; 

 a good deal of white at the bases of the inner primaries and along 

 the edges of the greater wing-coverts ; central tail-coverts mottled 

 like the back, but those on each side conspicuously white ; face, 

 neck and upper breast pale chestnut, spotted with dark brown ; 

 remaining under parts pure white ; bill black ; legs and feet dark 

 olive. Length 8 in. ; wing 47 in. The female is slightly larger 

 than the male. By the latter part of August the rufous tints on the 

 back have nearly disappeared, leaving the black markings very 

 distinct ; by the end of October the upper plumage is chiefly ash- 

 grey and all the under surface is white. In the young bird the 

 upper feathers are tinged and variegated with buff, traces of the 

 same colour appearing on the sides of the neck and breast. 



