THE SANDERLIXG. 129 



therefore they show a front consisting of the whole of their 

 numbers ; whereas the birds which spread inland are seen 

 only on the side, or rather at a point of the surface which 

 they occupy ; and if we do not attend to that, we are sure to 

 over-estimate those which appear in line, and under-estimate 

 those which appear en masse or equally distributed in length 

 and breadth. yf -> 



The sanderling is a bird of light make, fully eight" inches in 

 - length, and about sixteen in the stretch of the wings ; and it 

 weighs barely two ounces. 



The plumage varies with sex, age, and season. The bill, 

 feet, and irides, are black or dusky in all states of the plu- 

 mage. In the winter season, the male has all the under part, 

 the forehead, and a narrow streak over the eye, white ; the 

 top of the head and nape bluish ash, less or more streaked 

 with brown ; the back, scapulars, and greater coverts, brownish 

 ash, with lighter margins, and mottled with spots of dusky 

 brown. The lesser coverts, bastard wings, and primaries 

 (except the outer webs of some which are white), of the same 

 dusky brown as the spots on the back. The white is near 

 the base of the quills, and forms one elongated triangular 

 spot, broadest at the tips of the coverts. The secondaries are 

 brown with white tips. The tail, which is wedge-shaped 

 when close, is brownish ash, darkest in the centre, inclining 

 to white at the sides. The whole of the upper plumage is, 

 indeed, sometimes nearly a dull white on the margins of the 

 feathers. The prevailing colours of the under part are red- 

 dish brown in summer, mottled in spring and autumn, and 

 almost white in winter. 



The plumage of this bird is thus a sort of index to the 

 seasons ; but it must be borne in mind, that the turns of the 

 seasons on the sea, or (which to our present purpose is the 

 same) on the shores, do not occur at the time stated in the 

 calendar. That is for the land ; and the sea, being a worse 



VOL. II. K 



