176 Twelve Months With 



are moving rapidly under their straight little 

 bodies, they have a singular mechanical appear- 

 ance, like a toy automaton. When they do reluc- 

 tantly prepare for flight when too nearly 

 approached, they quickly face the water, and seem 

 suddenly to run into flight as they skim out from 

 the edge of the water over the breaking waves. 

 Their colors and movements seem a veritable part 

 of the surf and sand, for their plumage is the color 

 of sand-encrusted foam, and their rolling running 

 movements in and out along the water's edge, and 

 across the sand, are beautifully like the alternate 

 rolling and receding of the spent waves up and 

 down the long beach. 



"Thy flitting form comes ghostly dim and pale, 

 As driven by a beating storm at sea." 



Circling out over the water a short distance, they 

 fly along the beach two or three hundred feet and 

 again alight on the sand at the water's edge and 

 continue their alternate feeding and running until 

 again flushed. 



Another little shore bird frequently seen migrat- 

 ing at this season is the semipalmated sandpiper, 

 which is similar in appearance and habits to the 

 sanderling, but it is nearly two inches smaller in 

 size. The sanderling is always distinguishable by 

 the singular fact that it has only three toes. 



One of the most interesting of our summer resi- 

 dents that migrates south this month is the night- 



