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3t)0 HISTORY OF CALIFORNIA. 



before it, when they appear like a little pigmy army 

 passing through their military evolutions ; and at this 

 time the wily sportsman, seizing his opportunity, 

 spreads destruction among their timid ranks ; and so 

 little are they aware of the nature of the attack, that, 

 after making a few^ aerial meanders, the survivors 

 pursue their busy avocations with as little apparent 

 concern as at the first. The breeding place of the 

 Sanderling, in common with many other wading, and 

 aquatic birds, is in the remote and desolate regions of 

 the north, since they appear to be obliged to quit those 

 countries in America a little after the middle of 

 August. According to Mr. Hutchins, they breed on 

 the coast of Hudson Bay, as low as the 55th parallel ; 

 and he remarks that they construct, in the marshes, a 

 rude nest of grass, laying four dusky eggs, spotted 

 with black, on which they begin to sit about the middle 

 of June. 



The Common or Golden Plover {Charadrius plu- 

 vialis), is also found on this coast. Indeed the Com- 

 mon Plover is, according to the season of the year, 

 met with in almost every part of the world, particu- 

 larly in Asia and Europe, from Kamtschatka to China, 

 as well as in the South Sea Islands ; and on the present 

 continent from Arctic America, where it breeds, to 

 the Falkland Islands ; it is also seen in the interior^ 

 at least as far as Missouri. They breed in Siberia, 

 and in the northern parts of Great Britain, but not in 

 France or Italy, where they are also common. At 

 such times, they select the high and secluded moun- 

 tains sheltered by the heath, where, without much 

 attempt at a nest, they deposit about four, or some- 

 times five eggs of a pale olive color, marked with 

 blackish spots. 



