SCOLOPACID^ — THE SNIl'K FAMILY. 55 



Calidris arenaria (Liiiti.) 



SANDEELING. 

 Popular synonyms. Skinner (Plymouth Bay. Mass.); White Snipe. 



Trinoa arenaria Linn. S. N. cd.l2.i,17C6.251.— Aud. Orn. Bios. iii. 1835, 231; Synop. 1S39.287; 

 B.Am. V, 1842. 287, pi. 338. 

 Calidris oivimrm Leach, Sy.st. Cat. Brit. Mam. & B. 18IC, 28.— Sw. & EiCH. F. B.-A, ii. 1831. 

 SfiC— NuTT. 5L-in. ii. 1834, 4.— Cass, in BairJ's B, N. Am. is:,8. 723.— Baird, Cat. N. Am. 

 B. 1851>. No. .Wl.— CouES, Key, 1872. 2.">7, (Ig. 167: Check List, 1874. No. 427; 2d oil. 1882. 

 No. 627; Birds N. W. 1874, 492.— RiDow. Nom. N. Am.-B. 1881, No. .512; Man. N. Am. 

 B. 1887. 162.— B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. i. 1884. 249.— A. O. U. Check List. 1886. No. 



Cliaradrins calidris LlSi^.S. N. ed. 12.i, I7i)B. aj.";.- WiLS. Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 08. pi. 59, {Ig i. 



Charadriiis rubidus Gmel. S. N. ed. 13. i, 1788, (iS8.— Wils. Am. Orn. vii. 1813, 129. pi. 58. fig. 3. 



Hab. Nearly cosmopohtan, but breeding only in the Arctic and Subarctic districts; in 

 America migrating south to Patagonia and Chili. Chiefly littoral, but freauenting also the 

 larger inland waters. 



" Sp. Ch AB. No hind toe : front toes moderate or rather long, flattened underneath, dis- 

 tinctly margined with a membrane. Bill ratht^r longer than the head, straight, rather thick; 

 edge of upper mandible flattened; nasal groove deep and nearly as long as the upper man- 

 dible, not so distinct in the lower; both mandibles widened and flattened at the tip; aper- 

 ture of the nostril large and covered with a membrane. Wing long; tail short, with the 

 middle feathers longest; under coverts long as the tail; li'gs moderate; lower third of the 

 tibia naked. Lower parts white, immaculate on the belly, sides, flanks, axillars. anal region, 

 andcrissum; greater wing-coverts broadly tipped with white, and inner primaries white 

 at base of outer webs. Adult in summer: Above, light rufous, broken by large spots of 

 black, the feathers mostly tipped with whitish. Head, neck, throat, and jugulum, pale cin- 

 namon-rufous, speckled below and streaked above with blackish. A dull in wiuter: Above 

 very pale pearl-gray (the lesser wing-coverts darker anteriorly), relieved only by faint 

 darker shaft-streaks of the feathers. Throat and jugulum immaculate pure white. Adult 

 in spring: Above, light grayish, with large black spots (streaks on the crown), here and 

 there mixed with rufous; jugulum speckled with dusky on a white ground. Young: Above 

 pale gray, spotted with black and whitish, the latter iin tips of the feathers; jugulum im- 

 maculate white, faintly tinged with dull bulT. " Bill and feet black ; iris brown." (AuunnoN.) 



"Total length, about 7.75-8.00 inches; wing. 4.70-5.00; culmen. .95-1.00; tarsus. .90-1.05; 

 middle toe, .55-.00. (Water B. N. Am.) 



The Sanderling is not uncoimi,ion in IlUnoi.s during the migrat- 

 iiig seasons, but is chiefly confined to the shores of the larger 

 bodies of water. Near Chicago, Mr. Nelson says that it is an 

 "abundant migrant along the Lake shore," and adds the fol- 

 lowing: "Arrives in full breeding plumage — which varies greatly' 

 with individual.'^ — about the 20th of May, and is found in flocks, 

 numbering from five to seventy-five, along the shore, until June 

 10th. Returns the first of August, still wearing its breeding 

 dress, whi(;h is changed the last of the month for the duller 

 garb of winter. Departs for the south by the 20th of October. 

 This species, with ^. imliuja, is found almost exclusively along 

 the bare sandy beach, where it would scoin iiii impossibility for 

 it to obtain a living." 



