26o THE SANDERLING 



flew off in the same way as before, and dropped into the little stream 

 from which I had first started it. 



From this habit of lying so close as to rise under the very feet of 

 the passenger, as well as from its silence, it is called in France la 

 Sourde, ' deaf '. In the same country it is known also as ' St. 

 Martin's Snipe ', from the time of its arrival in that country, Novem- 

 ber ii ; with us it is an earlier visitor, coming about the second week 

 in September. 



A few instances are recorded of the Jack Snipe having been seen 

 in this country at a season which would lead to the inference that 

 it occasionally breeds here ; but no instance of its doing so has been 

 ascertained as a fact. 



THE SANDERLING 



CALIDRIS ARENARIA 



Winter — npper plumage and sides of the neck whitish ash ; cheeks and all 

 the under plumage, pure white ; bend and edge of the wing and quills 

 blackish grey ; tail deep grey, edged with white ; bill, irides, and feet, 

 black. Summer — cheeks and crown black, mottled with rust-red and 

 white ; neck and breast reddish ash with black and white spots ; back 

 and scapulars deep rust-red, spotted with black, all the feathers edged 

 and tipped with white ; wing-coverts dusky, with reddish lines, and 

 tipped with white ; two middle tail-feathers dusky, with reddish edges. 

 Young in autumn — cheeks, head, nape, and back variously mottled 

 with black, brown, grey, rust-red and dull white. Length eight inches. 

 Eggs olive, spotted and speckled with black. 



The early flocks of Sanderlings often consist of old as well as young 

 birds, which is not the common rule with Waders. They are plenti- 

 ful on our sandy shores, and they sometimes visit inland waters. 

 By April the return passage begins. The note is a shrill wick ! 

 They arrive on our shores early in autumn, keeping together in 

 small flocks, or joining the company of Dunlins, or Ringed Plovers. 

 In spring they withdraw to high latitudes, where they breed ; 

 they are not, however, long absent. Yarrell mentions his having 

 obtained specimens as late as April and June, and I have myself 

 obtained them as early as the end of July, having shot at Hunstan- 

 ton, on the coast of Norfolk, several young birds of the year, on the 

 twenty-third of that month ; and on another occasion I obtained a 

 specimen on the sands of Abergele, in North Wales, in August. This 

 leaves so very short a time for incubation and the fledging of the 

 young, that it is probable that a few birds, at least, remain to breed in 

 this country, or do not retire very far north. Little is known of their 

 habits during the season of incubation, but they are said to make 

 their nests in the marshes, of grass, and to lay four eggs. 



Like many other shore birds, they have an extensive geographical 

 range, and are found in all latitudes, both in the eastern and western 

 hemispheres. 



