SANDPIPERS 



(244) Erolia ferruginea 



(Btiiim.) (Lat., rusty or reddish). 



CURLEW SANDPIPER. A 

 boreal, Old World species, having a 

 slightly decurved bill and, in summer, 

 rufous under parts. Casual on the 

 Atlantic coast. 



(248) Calidris leucophaea 



(Pallas) {Gr., a beach bird; light gray). 



SANDERLING. Bill rather stout 

 and with slightly expanded tip. 

 Plumage in summer as shown; 

 washed on the head, neck and back 

 with rusty. In winter, the rusty 

 wash disappears, leaving the plumage 

 largely white. L., 7.75; \V., 4.90; 

 T., 2,25; Tar., .95; B,, i.oo. 



Range — Abundant in Northern 

 and Southern Hemispheres. Breeds 

 within the Arctic Circle. Winters 

 from N. Y. and Cal. south to Pata- 

 gonia. 



In spring we sometimes see them in the red-backed, black- 

 bellied plumage, but in fall nearly all of them are immature 

 or winter-plumaged birds. They can easily be distinguished 

 by the long bill, which is slightly decurved at the end. 



They usually travel in flocks of their own kind, well massed 

 and keeping perfect time in all their maneuvers. When 

 feeding, they keep well grouped, running rapidly along the 

 beach, now stopping to pick up an insect or scrap of animal 

 matter, again foUowing down the beach in the wake of a 

 receding wave or boring in the soft soil for worms. Naturally 

 unsuspicious, as are most boreal birds, they pay little heed 

 to mankind on their first arrival, and their ranks are greatly 

 decimated before they learn to beware of all humans. 



SANDERLING, or Beach Birds, are nearly as abundant 

 along our sea-coasts as are the little "Peeps." They may 

 sometimes be seen along the margins of mud flats and pools 

 back from the beach, but usually they must be looked for 

 on the open ocean beach, where they run about, looking at a 

 distance like so many ants, each busUy trying to get more 



