BIRDS OF THE SHORES AND RIVER MARGINS 
259 
Australia during September or October, departing in March or April. It 
frequents the foreshores of inlets, beaches, and the banks of rivers, and 
is a fairly common species. At low tide it resorts to the uncovered 
beaches, flats, and rocky foreshores, often in the company of other 
Waders; during high tide it rests on the higher ground, mostly on rocks 
near the water’s edge. When disturbed, it rises rapidly and flies some 
distance away before settling again. Its call-note is a tremulous whistle. 
Food : small aquatic animals. 
Nest. — A depression in the grass or ground, lined with dead grass, 
moss, or leaves. 
Eggs. — Four, greyish or light creamy-buff, covered all over with 
underlying spots of grey, and other markings, few and irregular, of deep 
brown or coffee-brown. Breeding-season: June and July (Europe and 
northern Asia). 
17. Sanderling Crocethia alba Vroeg 
Cro-ce-thi'-a — Gk, croce , shore; Gk, thio ( theio ), I run: al'-ba — L., albus, 
white. 
Distribution. — Arctic regions, migrating southwards to Patagonia, 
South America, Africa, and Australia; accidental to New Zealand. 
Notes. — Usually in small flocks, frequenting the sandy seashores, 
where it casually feeds in the company of other Waders. It has been 
recorded in Australia during the greater part of the year, an important 
fact, coinciding with similar records of this species in other parts of 
the world. 
Nest . — A depression in the ground. 
Eggs. — Four, greenish-drab, spotted and blotched with reddish-grey, 
brown, and blackish-brown markings. Breeding-season: not recorded 
(breeds in the Arctic regions). 
18. Red-necked Stint Erolia ruficollis Pallas 
E-ro-li-a — derivation unknown: rU-fi-coll'-is — L., rufus, red; L., collum, 
neck. 
Distribution. — North-eastern Siberia, migrating southwards to India, 
Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. 
Notes . — Also called Little Stint, Red-necked Sandpiper, Land-snipe, 
and Little Dunlin. Usually in flocks, arriving in southern Australia about 
July, departing in February. It frequents open marshy swamp-lands and 
sea beaches, where it feeds on small marine crustaceans and aquatic insects 
and worms. An adult in summer plumage has the entire head and neck 
rufous and the back and scapulars rufous with dark centres. 
Nest. — A cavity on a small mound of tundra lined with dry willow 
leaves (W. Sprague Brooks, Providence Bay, north-eastern Siberia). 
Eggs *. — Three and four; said to resemble those of the Spoonbill 
Sandpiper Eurynorhynchus pygmeus Linnaeus (Joseph Dixon, 1918). 
Breeding-season: June, north-eastern Siberia (W. Sprague Brooks). 
