PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. 105 
ignore the genus Caézdr7s, named first by Cuvier in 
1800, and formally founded eleven years later by 
Illiger, established as it is on such a trivial character 
(all things considered) as the absence of a minute 
and functionless hind toe—is one of the commonest 
and most widely distributed of Limicoline birds. 
Comparatively few individuals remain on our coast 
to winter, and these collect more especially on the 
southern beaches. In winter plumage—the dress 
in which it is most familiar to British observers— 
the Sanderling is a delicate silvery-gray above and 
pure white below; but in the breeding season, 
athough the underparts remain unchanged in colour, 
the upper parts become mottled with chestnut and 
black. Comparatively few Sanderlings reach the 
British coasts before August, and the southward 
migration continues during September. By the 
middle of the latter month the bulk of the individ- 
uals has passed beyond our limits; by the end of 
October but few remain, although some of these 
prolong their stay over the winter. The return 
migration begins in April, and lasts over May into 
June. There can be little doubt that the Sanderling 
migrates by night. Few birds are more trustful 
and engaging than this pretty little Arctic stranger. 
It not only frequents the long reaches of sand, 
but mud- flats, estuaries, and the creeks and 
streams in salt-marshes; its favourite haunts, 
however, are the sands. During its sojourn on 
our coast it consorts in flocks of varying size; 
