SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 85 



IIS [248] Calidris leucophaea (Pallas). 



Sanderling; "Beach-bird"; "Whitey"; "Beach Plover." 



Abundant transient visitor. May 20 to June 8; July 10 to November 25 

 (December 6, 12). 



The December 12 record is of several birds seen by Mr. A. C. Stubbs near 

 the Nahant Coast Guard Station. In June 8, 1919, I saw a flock of six Sander- 

 lings on Ipswich Beach. 



The Sanderling has held its own and may possibly have increased in numbers 

 since the Federal Law went into effect, but the increase is not so noticeable as in 

 the case of the Semipalmated Sandpiper. 



On the hard wet sand of the beaches one may see in places the characteristic 

 probings of the Sanderling without a trace of their foot marks, and these may be 

 the cause of considerable mystery to the uninitiated. While the Semipalmated 

 Sandpiper runs about with his head down dabbing irregularly here and there, the 

 Sanderling vigorously probes the sand in a series of holes a quarter of an inch to 

 an inch apart in straight or curving lines a foot to two feet long. Sometimes the 

 probings are so near together that the line is almost a continuous one like the 

 furrow of a miniature plough. The sand is thrown up in advance so that one can 

 tell in which direction the bird is going. A close inspection of the probings often 

 reveals their double character, showing that the bill was introduced partly open. 

 The probings are for the minute sand fleas and other crustaceans in the sand, 

 their principal food. I have seen Sanderlings running about nimbly on the beach, 

 catching the sand fleas which were hopping on the surface. I have also seen them 

 catching flies. I have the record of one I shot in 1884, whose stomach was stuffed 

 with small specimens of the common mussel, Mytilus edulis. 



116 [249] Limosa fedoa (Linn.). 

 Marbled Godwit ; Brown Marlin. 



Accidental transient visitor. 



Besides the four records of this bird given in the original Memoir two are 

 to be added from Mr. Damsell's records.^ Both of these birds were shot, one on 

 July 28 and another on July 30, 1888. 



1 Auk. vol. 30, p. 24, 1913. 



