SANDERLING. 5 1 



coast of Australia, and is ibund on the shores of Lake Baikal 

 in Siberia. In the month of May, or as soon as they have 

 recovered from the moult of spring, they leave us for the 

 north, but are seldom in good order for the table until autumn, 

 when, with their broods, they arrive remarkably plump and 

 fat, and are then justly esteemed as a delicacy by the epicure. 

 Besides the various kinds of insect food already mentioned on 

 which they live, they likewise swallow considerable portions of 

 sand in order apparently to assist the process of digestion. 



The Sanderling is almost cosmopolitan in its distribution, and is 

 usually abundant wherever it occurs. In America it breeds in high 

 Arctic regions, and winters in the far South, — some flocks going to 

 Chili and Patagonia ; and in their migrations the birds follow the 

 water-ways of the interior as well as the coast-line. 



A few stragglers have been seen on the New England shores in 

 summer, but no nest has been found south of about latitude 55"^; 

 and Captain Feilden reports finding a number breeding on the 

 shores of the Frozen Ocean, at the extreme northern limit of 

 animal life. 



Flemming's opinion that some of these birds nested in Scotland 

 has not been confirmed by recent observers. Even on the Faroe 

 Islands the Sanderling occurs as a migrant only; but nests have 

 been taken in Iceland. 



These birds are exceedingly active and by no means shy. When 

 flushed they fly out to sea, but soon return ; and when a flock is 

 fired into, the remnant make no great effort to escape, though 

 a wounded bird will dive into the surf or swim off on the surface 

 of the water. 



The food of the Sanderling while in this region is confined 

 chiefly to small bivalves and crustaceans; but on its breeding- 

 ground the bird is more insectivorous, and has been known to eat ' 

 also the buds of plants. 



