392 GAME BIRDS OF CALIFORNIA 



beaches, feeding most commonly in dense flocks at edge of water, advancing 

 and retreating with each wave. 



Voice — ". . . A shrill but not unpleasant wieh" (Dresser, 1903, p. 779); a 

 short chit, a rasping note, a peeping note, or sometimes a sharp grasshopper- 

 like sound (Forbush, 1912, p. 290). 



Nest — Either in marshes or on high open ground; a mere depression lined 

 with leaves of the Arctic willow, or with catkins and grasses (Feilden, 1877, 

 p. 406; and other authors). 



Eggs — Usually 4, pear-shaped, measuring in inches, 1.30 to 1.50 by 0.95 

 to 1.03 (in millimeters, 33.1 to 38.2 by 24.2 to 26.1), and averaging about 1.41 

 by 0. 98 (35.9 by 24.9) ; ground color brownish olive or pale yellowish white, 

 green-tinged, and marked sparsely with faint blotches and spots of varying 

 shades of brown, most numerous at larger end; also deeper markings of light 

 violet-gray (Dresser, 1904, pp. 230-231; and others). 



General distribution — Almost world-wide. Breeds along the Arctic coast 

 of both North America and Eurasia, in the former hemisphere south as far as 

 latitude 55°N., on shores of Hudson Bay, but chiefly along Arctic coast and 

 islands farther north, including Melville Island and Grinnell Land; also on 

 both coasts of Greenland. Winters from central Argentina and central Chile 

 north regularly on Atlantic coast to North Carolina and on Pacific coast to 

 central California, and casually to Massachusetts and Washington. In Old 

 •World, winters from Japan and the Mediterranean south to southern Africa, 

 Malay Archipelago and Oceania. Occurs in migration on the sea-coasts of the 

 world, and locally on shores of inland bodies of water (Cooke, 1910, pp. 48-49). 



Distribution in California — Common fall and spring migrant and winter 

 visitant; recorded most commonly on beaches of southern California from 

 Santa Barbara southeastward. Usually absent from June 1 to August 15. 

 Earliest fall record: Santa Barbara, July 29, 1910 (Bowles and Howell, 1912, 

 p. 9); latest spring record: near Santa Barbara, June 5, 1915 (Dawson, 1915, p. 

 207). Eecorded inland only at Salton Sea, April 20 and 30, 1909 (specimens 

 in Mus. Vert. Zool.). 



The Sanderling, or Beach Bird as it has been appropriately called, 

 is, in California, almost exclusively an inhabitant of sandy beaches, 

 being rarely encountered amid any other surroundings. It is a 

 breeding bird of the far north, and comes to us as a transient and 

 winter visitant. It has been found along our coasts during every 

 month in the year, although in summer nearly eight weeks elapse 

 between the disappearance of the last northbound migrants and the 

 arrival of the first fall birds. As barren or non-breeding individuals 

 of this species are thought sometimes to remain over in southern lati- 

 tudes, the period in which breeding birds are absent from the state 

 may be still longer. On the coast of southern California the birds 

 have been seen as early as July 29, 1910 (Bowles and Howell, 1912, 

 p. 9) and as late as June 5, 1915 (Dawson, 1915, p. 207). Willett 

 (1912a, p. 37) states that they are most common as migrants, in spring 

 and fall. There is only one instance of occurrence of this species from 

 other than a seacoast locality. Frank Stephens found it at the south- 

 east end of Salton Sea, April 20 and 30, 1909 (specimens in Mus. 

 Vert. Zool.). 



