1916 J Nichols and Haeper, Long Island Shore Birds. 247 



the summer plumage, its bill stouter, and its legs darker. There is also less 

 contrast between the dark middle and the light outer tail-feathers in this 

 species than in the Least Sandpiper, as one may observe when the birds 

 take wing directly away from him. Moreover, one who is famihar with 

 their notes has an excellent means for separating the two species. 



The females have decidedly longer bills than the males, and may be 

 readily picked out of a ' bag ' of birds by this character. 



Calidris leucophaea. Sanderling; Surf Snipe. — A very common 

 migrant on Long Island. It is one of the hardiest of our shore birds, being 

 among the first to arrive in the spring as well as among th« last to depart 

 in the fall. It is even noted occasionallj' during the winter. It has been 

 recorded on the migrations from March 15 to June 14, and from July 4 

 to December 8 (Eaton). On the southward flight it is usually present from 

 late July to late October. 



Though the Sm-f Snipe, true to its name, loves to run up and down the 

 outer beach along the surf-line, it is also found very commonly on a sandy 

 inner beach, such as that bordering Fire Island Inlet, and sometimes on a 

 wide tidal flat along one of the numerous channels at the western end of 

 Great South Bay. It occurs also on the open gravelly points projecting 

 into Long Island Sound. We have seen but one bird — • a cripple — actu- 

 ally on the marsh. Even passing birds have been noted but once during 

 several years' observation at the junction of marsh and bay l^ehind the 

 beach at Mastic. 



It generally travels in bands of five to twenty individuals of its own 

 species, but larger numbers are occasionally observed together, and many 

 single birds are met with. 



The Surf Snipe is less shy than suspicious. In feeding along the beach, 

 it will allow a pedestrian to follow it at fairly close range, and it will almost 

 invariably come close enough to a blind to be at a gunner's mercy; yet it 

 seldom musters the courage to pass directly in front of the blind within 

 good photographic distance. Sometimes its apprehensions seem directed 

 toward the large tin decoys, and it will pass them on the wing instead of 

 walking or trotting among them in its progress along the shore. 



The birds feed in a close flock, as they hurry along just where the wash 

 from the sea rolls upon the beach. They obtain their food by rapid probing 

 in the wet sand, whether its surface is bare or covered with a thin film of 

 water; and they undoubtedly fare well upon the small but abundant animal 

 life of the ocean's edge. What seems to be photographic evidence of the 

 flexibility of the upper mandible of this species, was secured at Short Beach 

 on August 14, 1910. In the photograph the bird's bill is apparently open 

 at the tip where it touches the sand, though closed for the basal half of its 

 length (Plate VH). 



The Surf Snipe is strong on the wing. Flocks are often observed as they 

 maintain their line of flight either over or just beyond the surf, keeping 

 rather close to the water, and now and again wheeling with perfectly con- 

 certed action. When on the ground, the birds are able to move their legs 



