'4 2 BRITISH BIRDS. WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



Adults in winter (Northumberland, October, 1876) have no trace remaining 

 of chestnut. The upper parts are light grey, with darker shaft stripes and whitish 

 tips to the feathers ; the shoulder is black, and the flight feathers as in summer ; 

 entire under surface pure white. 



Birds of the year (the commonest plumage) are black above, with creamy 

 white margins and marginal spots to the feathers, mingled with grey-buff; under 

 parts white, with a dusky buff band across the chest. 



The Sanderling may be recognized, in the hand, from all other Sandpipers 

 by the absence of a hind toe ; and on the wing (even a long way off) by its 

 conspicuous black shoulder (formed by the dark lesser coverts), and by its white 

 under parts. 



Feilden describes the nest (Smith's Sound, 24, 6, '76) as placed on a gravel 

 ridge, some hundreds of feet above the sea, "in a slight depression in the centre 

 of a recumbent plant of arctic willow, the lining of the nest consisting of a few 

 withered leaves, and some of the last year's catkins." I recorded in the " Ibis " 

 (1886, p. 50) my supposed discovery of this bird's nest in Iceland. I was as 

 familiar with the Sanderling, almost, as with the Blackbird, and followed the bird 

 that left the nest in question for some distance, as it crept through the short 

 grass, silently, ten yards before me. It had a chestnut head and neck, and white 

 under parts ; the eggs, which were on the point of hatching, exactly resembled 

 the authentic eggs of the Sanderling, which several of the best judges pronounced 

 them to be. But the carbolised embryos we subsequently extracted had hind toes, 

 small, but unmistakable. I still believe the eggs to be those of the Sanderling, 

 and see no reason why a Sandpiper, which breaks the otherwise universal rule 

 amongst Sandpipers that there should be four toes on each foot, should not pass 

 its embryonic life with the normal number. The eggs of the Sanderling may be 

 described as small copies of those of the Whinibrel greenish-drab in ground- 

 colour, spotted and blotched with light sepia, and measuring if by i inch. 



A tame silent bird is the Sanderling, frequenting sandy sea shores, where it 

 feeds indifferently in company with waders of other species, (such as Dunlins and 

 Ringed Plovers), by itself, or with others of its own kind. Its only note, as far 

 as I have heard, is a low unmusical " wick," very like a Red-necked Phalarope's. 

 It is invariably in good condition, feeding on small mollusca, Crustacea, and 

 annelids, not disdaining the flies which breed in decaying sea-ware at high-water 

 mark. It swallows a little fine grit also, to assist its gizzard in triturating the 

 food. Feilden speaks of the Sanderling as feeding largely, in Smith's Sound, 

 upon the buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia, as all birds up there seem to do. It is 

 very note-worthy how most birds, which visit the Arctic regions for breeding 



