604 



SANDERLING SANDPIPER. 



of little show. Some of the species of Samyda are 

 pretty, but very rare. The calyx is of from three to 

 seven sepals, coherent by their claws ; the corolla is 

 absent, or reduced to a thin torus that lines the 

 bottom of the calyx ; the stamens are definite, two 

 to four times as many as the sepals, and exserted 

 from the calyx ; the filaments are monodelphous and 

 subulate, either all antheriferous, or alternately fertile 

 and barren ; the germen is free or superior, one- 

 celled, and many ovules ; the style is filiform, and 

 the stigma lobed ; the bark and leaves of the Samyda: 

 are said to be slightly astringent ; and the leaves of 

 Cascaria nlmifo/ia, when boiled, are applied in Brazil 

 to wounds, and are there reputed an antidote to the 

 bites of poisonous serpents. Some of both genera 

 are in our stoves, grown in light soil, and increased 

 by cuttings. 



SANDERLING (CaMris}. A genus of birds be- 

 longing to the long-billed family of the stilt birds, re- 

 sembling the genus Tringa in most respects, excepting 

 that it has no liind toe like the members of that genus. 

 The characters are : the bill of mean length, straight, 

 soft, and rather flexible, compressed at the base, 

 depressed at the point, and flattened for the greater 

 part of its intermediate length ; the nasal grooves 

 continued almost to the tip ; the nostrils placed lon- 

 gitudinally in the sides of the bill ; the feet slender, 

 with only three toes, all directed to the front, and 

 free their whole length. There is only one species 

 of the genus, but it is found more generally distri- 

 buted than birds of other genera containing many 

 species, being common in all the northern parts of 

 Asia, Europe, and America in none of which places 

 there seems to be the slightest specific difference, 

 though there are climatal distinctions between very 

 many other genera as natives of the eastern conti- 

 nent and of America. 



Abundant as the sanderling is, the history of it is 

 involved in considerable obscurity. It is most fre- 

 quently seen along the shores in the autumn and 

 winter, for it flocks at that season. In summer, how- 

 ever, there are a few that linger till the season is 

 considerably advanced, and then may breed in the 

 country, though where does not appear to be known. 

 In the arctic countries they breed in great numbers, 

 making their nest-holes in the sand, and depositing 

 five or six eggs, upon which the female sits very 

 closely. 



The plumage varies considerably with the season, 

 the age, and the sex of the birds ; but the bill, the 

 feet, and the irides, are at all times black. The 

 summer colours are brownish-ash on the upper part 

 and reddish-brown on the under ; but the under part 

 begins to get mottled with white in the autumn, and 

 becomes entirely white in the winter, the white 

 extending to the forehead, and also to a streak across 

 the eye. Sanderlings, when they are with us, are 

 always on the margins of the sea, or on the rivers at 

 no very great distance inland. They live chiefly 

 upon the small Crustacea and mollusca, which they 

 pick up between the wet and the dry. Thus they 

 follow the tide on the sandy beaches, and communi- 

 cate a lively interest to them at the time when the 

 land is most desolate. They are light-looking birds, 

 and also birds of powerful wing for their size. The 

 length is about eight inches, and the extent of the 

 wings about twice as much. When alarmed they 

 rise in a flock, and escape byjTa wheeling flight. 



SANPORICUM (Cavenille).^An East Indian 



timber tree, belonging to Meliacece, and called sandal- 

 tree. It grows freely in a mixture of sandy loatn and 

 heath mould, and is increased by cuttings made of 

 the half-ripened wood. 



SANDPIPER (Totanus). An interesting genus 

 of 'stilt birds, of the long-billed family, and forming a 

 link in that numerous chain of birds which have their 

 general habitat, as it were, between the land and the 

 water. They are all, it is true, land birds ; for, 

 though some of them can enter the water, none of 

 them have the feet webbed for swimming. Their 

 pasture extends from the solid bank, where water 

 never remains to stagnate, to the sea within low-water 

 mark, which is never dry. This pasture of theirs is, 

 in general, covered with sand or gravel, though 

 sometimes with sludge, and at other times with 

 vegetation, passing gradually from the land cha- 

 racter to the aquatic. In some situations it is miles 

 in breadth, and in others it is only a line upon the 

 perpendicular face of the cliffs, on which the water 

 rises and falls, and where there is of course not 

 footing for a bird. 



One would be apt, at first thought of the matter, 

 to suppose that this must be the most barren portion 

 of the whole surface of the earth ; but, so far is this 

 from being the case, that it is really very fertile, and 

 its productiveness continues the whole year round 

 with much less interruption than upon the land. 

 From its composition and surface, the sun exerts a 

 great deal of influence upon it, so that, in almost 

 every part of the world, it is the line of greatest 

 average annual heat. Hence it produces an immense 

 number of small living creatures, and these supply 

 food for great numbers of birds, among which the 

 sandpipers hold not an inconspicuous place. 



The bill of the sandpipers is flexible in the basal 

 half of its length, but it becomes firm toward the tip, 

 with sharp tomia, and a nail on the extremity of the 

 upper mandible which covers over that of the under 

 one. This is sufficient for enabling the bird to break 

 the crusts of those little animals upon which it feeds, 

 while the flexible portion takes off 7 the jar which 

 would otherwise be given to the head when the bird 

 searches among the sand and shingle. The legs are 

 long, and have a garter or portion of the tibiae, 

 above the tarsal joint, bare of feathers ; their wings 

 are long and pointed, the first quill being the longest, 

 and thus they are well adapted for flying in circles, 

 as they beat over the surface to find the places where 

 food is to be had. Their eggs are four, placed in 

 quatrefoil, and generally on the bare surface, without 

 any formal nest. These eggs are large for the size 

 of the birds, generally of the colour of sand or of 

 small gravel, and with the ends very different in 

 thickness. They are noisy birds, and utter shrill and 

 wailing cries, but these are rather pleasant, as they 

 break the monotony of the expiring waves, sighing 

 on the sand, or murmuring among the pebbles. We 

 shall very briefly notice the British species. 



RED-SHANK SANDPIPER (T*. Calidris). As a Bri- 

 tish bird, this species is resident within the country, 

 only it shifts its ground with the seasons. It is on 

 the shores from the middle of autumn to the end of 

 spring, and the rest of the year it is on its breeding- 

 grounds. These are the borders of the marshes in 

 the south part of the country, and those of the inland 

 and upland bays in the north. The nest is in a tuft, 

 very rude in structure, and the eggs are four in 

 number, pale olive on the ground colour, and marked 



