SNIPES, ETC. 67 



Bonaparte's Sandpiper is a large bird and a 

 common autumn visitant, 



The Sanderling ( Calidris arenaria) is a light- 

 colored Sandpiper, larger than a Ring -neck Plover. 

 It appears in numbers on the sea -washed reefs 

 and dunes of our northern coast, during the 

 autumnal migrations, while the young are in their 

 immature plumage. They are very quiet [)irds, 

 running along the sands ahead of the traveller, 

 bobbing down to pick up seeds or insects, utter- 

 ing a soft, suppressed peep^ to preserve the 

 company of the flock, and caring little while they 

 are a stone's throw in advance of the intruder. 

 Its presence does much, in the late autumn, to 

 relieve the dreariness of the storm - lashed, desolate 

 dunes by the sea. 



I'he W'illet (Symphoiiia semipahnata) is a large 

 Sandpiper, being sixteen inches in length. It is 

 light - ash, si)eckled with dusky above, and white 

 below. Willets are restless and noisy birds, mak- 

 inu; themselves well known round the marsh whicli 

 they frequent, but they are not common with us. 



The (Greater Yellow - leirs is a bird somethinu; 

 less in size than the W'illet and of darker color, 

 but possessing the same gaunt, long - nosed appear- 



