109 



THE COMMON SANDPIPER. 



Totanus ht/poleucus (L.). 



Previous to April the 23rd, when the first marked immigra- 

 tion o£ this species occurred, there were only a few scattered 

 records in various counties, chiefly in the west and north ; 

 and as a certain number o£ Sandpipers winter in the south- 

 west, it seems probable that these residents began to spread 

 gradually through the country during the first half of April, 

 their numbers being doubtless augmented by the arrival of 

 other stragglers from beyond the sea. 



The main immigration of this species lasted from April the 

 23rd till the end of the month, the birds arriving in Corn- 

 wall, Devon, and Hants oii the 23rd, Devon on the 25th, 

 Cornwall and Devon on the 27th, Devon, Hants, and Sussex 

 on the 28th, and Devon and Dorset on the 30th. Many 

 passed rapidly northwards through Wales on the day of their 

 arrival, and reached Shropshire, Cheshire, and Lancashire on 

 the 24th, Denbigh and Westmoreland on the 25th, and 

 Yorkshire on the 26th. The later arrivals passed through 

 Wales and Shropshire and reached Lancashire on the 

 30th, Westmoreland on May the 1st, and Northumberland 

 on the 2nd. 



Those arriving on the 30th appear to have passed through 

 Somerset the same day, to have reached Radnor and 

 Merioneth on May the 3rd, and passed on to Denbigh on 

 the 7th, while a further contingent reached Northumberland 

 on the 9 th. 



The Hampshire birds arriving on April the 23rd seem to 

 have spread inland into Surrey, Berkshire, and Oxford, while 

 those arriving in Hants and Sussex on the 28th followed in 



