goodwill and forbearance which they exdiibit, rendering tliem most agreeable companions. When alarmed, 
they fly off in a body, uttering occasionally a shrill cry, move with great rapidity, now all inclining to 
one side, now to the other, and performing various evolutions. In sunshine they may be perceived at a very 
great distance by the glancing of their white under parts. At first they are not shy, and may easily be ap- 
proached ; but after being molested they become rather vigilant. At high water they repose on the sands 
or in their neighbourhood, sometimes by themselves, but often in company with Dunlins and Ringed Plovers. 
Like those birds, they also feed by moonlight. Individuals are sometimes seen on various parts of the coast 
in summer, but it does not appear that this species breeds in any part of Britain.” 
Mr. Harting informs me that the latest period in spring at which he has observed the Sanderling was the 
30th of May, on which day he once shot three at Wharton, on the Lancashire coast. They were exceedingly 
wild, in twos and threes, as if pairing ; and it was some time before be could get near them : they were in 
nearly full summer plumage. On examining the contents of the stomach, he found their food had consisted 
of small univalves, sandhoppers, and marine insects, mingled with the remains of which were minute particles 
of gravel. 
Audubon, writing of tbe bird as seen by him in North America, says, “ Although the Sanderling extends 
its rambles along our Atlantic shores from the eastern extremities of Maine to the southernmost Key of the 
Floridas, it is only an autumnal and winter visitor. It arrives in the more eastern districts about 
the 1st of August, on tbe shores of New York and New Jersey rarely before the 10th of August, 
and seldom reaches the extensive sandbanks of East Florida previous to the month of November. 
Along the whole of this extended coast it is more or less abundant, sometimes appearing in bands composed 
of a few individuals, and at others in large flocks, but generally mingling with other species of small shore- 
birds. 
“ The Sanderling obtains its food principally by probing tbe moist sands of the sea-shores, with its bill 
held in an oblique direction. At every step it inserts this instrument with surprising quickness, to a 
greater or less depth according to the softness of the sand, sometimes introducing it a quarter of an 
inch, at others to the base. Tbe holes thus made may be seen on the borders of beaches when the tide is 
fast receding, in rows of twenty, thirty, or more : in certain spots they are less numerous ; for it appears that 
when a place grows unproductive of the food for which they are searching, they very soon take to their wings 
and remove to another, now and then in so hurried a manner that it might be supposed they had been 
frightened. The contents of tbe stomachs of those I shot while thus occupied were slender sea-Avorms, 
about an inch in length, together with minute shell-fish and gravel. At other times, when they were seen 
following the receding waves, and wading up to the belly in the running waters, I found in them small shrimps 
and other Crustacea. 
“ In their flight, which is rapid, and straighter than that of other small species, the Sanderlings do not 
perform so many evolutions as Sandpipers generally display. They generally alight about a hundred yards 
from the place whence they started, and run for a yard or so with their Avings partially extended. They 
moA e on the mud with great activity, so as to keep up Avith a man Avalking at a moderate pace.” 
The total absence of a bind toe forms a conspicuous feature in tbe structure of the Sanderling — the more 
so as, I believe, this member is not wanting in any other known Sandpiper : the Avhy and the Avherefore 
of this peculiarity in the structure of its foot has not been ascertained ; but AA^e may rest assured that its 
habits dllfer in some minute particular from those of the Stints. The foot of the Golden PloA^er is tridactyle, 
Avhile the Grey Plover possesses a small hind toe ; here, therefore, a similar difference occurs in the members 
of another group of birds, but in an opposite direction, tbe Grey Plov^er’s foot being the only species in AAdiich 
that member exists. 
Sufficient has been said respecting the seasonal change of plumage to which the Sanderling is subject ; but I 
may mention that the young of the year have the upper surface darker than the old birds, and that a lunate 
patch of mottled feathers occupies the sides of the chest. 
The Plate represents the bird in three states of plumage — that of summer, of autumn, and of Avinter, — 
the figures being of the natural size. 
