134 BIRDS OF NORTH CAROLINA 



Remarks. The Sanderling is the only one of our snipe or sandpipers having only three 

 toes, and it may always be known by this character in combination with its transversely 

 scaled tarsi. 



Range. Nearly cosmopolitan, breeding far northward; wintering from Virginia to Patagonia, 

 in America. 



Range in North Carolina. Winters in the coastal region. 



This is one of our winter beach-birds. Its noticeably light coloration makes it 

 a comparatively easy bird to identify, particularly in winter when few other sand- 

 pipers are about. It comes in numbers in August and remains common until May, 

 leaving perhaps a couple of months in midsummer when none are to be found. 



FIG. 96. SANDERLING. 



A trim little bird is this; and it may often be seen running in close bunches 

 along the foam-flecked sand to the very edge of the advancing waves. Its color 

 harmonizes so well with the general tone of the beach that it presents a most incon- 

 spicuous object when not in motion. It is not at all rare during the time it is 

 with us. 



We have no record of its occurrence inland. 



Genus Limosa (Briss.) 



This genus comprises large sandpipers, with the bill slightly recurved; two 

 species occur in eastern America, and both have been taken in North Carolina. 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Tail barred, without white. L., 16.00 to 20.00. Marbled Godwit. 



1. Tail uniform black, with white base and tip. L., 14.00 to 16.75. Hudsonian Godwit. 



115. Limosa fedoa (Linn.}. MARBLED GODWIT. 



Ads. in summer. Upperparts black, the head and neck streaked with buffy, back barred 

 or the feathers spotted on the sides and sometimes tipped with buffy or ochraceous-buff ; inner 

 web of outer primaries and both webs of inner ones ochraceous-buff or pale buffy, speckled with 

 black; tail ochraceous-buff barred with black; throat white, rest of underparts pale buffy, spotted 

 or barred with black; bill curved slightly upward, yellowish at the base, black at the end. Juv. 

 Similar, but underparts with few or no bars except on flanks and under tail-coverts. L., 18.00; 

 W., 8.75; Tar., 2.75; B., 4.00. (Chap., Birds of E. N. A.) 



Range. North America, breeding from North Dakota northward; winters from Florida to 

 Central America. 



Range in North Carolina. Coastal region during the migrations, mainly in the fall, staying 

 well on into the winter. 



