130 NESTS AND EGGS OF NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



541. Semipalmated Sandpiper — ereunetes pusillus. This little 

 " Peep " is found everywhere in North America. In the summer it is dis- 

 tributed from Labrador northward, this being its breeding grounds. In 

 spring and fail it is an abundant migrant in United States, thronging the 

 beaches, the gravelly and sandy shores of streams and muddy banks of 

 ponds, in company with the Spotted Sandpiper and others, with which it 

 is usually confounded. It winters from the Carolinas southward. It has 

 the same 'Hvcct, '-tzvect as the Spotted Sandpiper, and utters it frequently, 

 both on the shore and when flying. The Semipalmated Sandpiper arrives 

 in the Saskatchewan River country about the middle of May, where it 

 deposits its eggs early in June on a few pieces of withered grass in a slight 

 hollow in the ground. These are three or four in number, and measure 

 from 1. 20 to 1.25 long by .82 to .85 broad. In a large series the usual 

 variations in color are noticeable; the ground color varying from clay to 

 grayish or greenish-drab or positive olive tint; usually boldly spotted and 

 splashed with umber or chestnut-brown; thickest about the largest end ; 

 and again, in some, very fine dots are distributed over the entire sur- 

 face. 



542. Sanderling — calidris arenaria. Ashy or greenish-brown, 

 spotted and blotched with brown of different shades, pyriform in shape ; 

 two to four in number, and measure from 1.35 to 1.45 long by .40 to .45 

 broad. The Sanderling, or Ruddy "Plover, " inhabits the sea coasts of nearly 

 all countries; in North America everywhere, but more abundant coast- 

 wise. It is found inland on the large bodies of water. It is a com- 

 mon spring and fall migrant on Lake Erie, but is less common in the in- 

 terior of Ohio. Breeds in the Arctic regions, and winters from the Caro- 

 linas southward. The "Beach-bird," as it is called by some, is one of 

 the most abundant of its tribe along the New England shores during the 

 spring and autumn migrations. Mr. Maynard, in " Birds of Eastern 

 North America," says: "Their pale colors render them quite conspicuous 

 when flying over the green waves or against the black sky ; but when they 

 alight on the sand they correspond so nearly with the ground that when 

 they are quiet, it is almost impossible to distinguish them a short distance 

 away. It is seldom, however, that they remain inactive, for they are lively 

 birds, and are constantly chasing the waves out, in search of food left by 

 that great store-hou.se of Nature, — the sea. Then, when the huge billows 

 come rushing in and expend their fury on the shelving beach in a long, 

 wide sheet of seething foam, the little Sanderlings run so quickly before 

 the advancing water that the spray seldom wets their delicate feathers. 

 After a storm hundreds of these birds may be seen thus engaged, spread- 



