PHILOMACHUS PUGH AX. 
387 
HABITS. 
The Sanderlings are among the most abundant of our shore birds and are, in fact, the 
most common of those which frequent the sandy beaches, they being almost exclusively 
confined to sandy shores. Their pale colors render them quite conspicuous, when flying 
over the green waves or against the black sky; but when they alight on the sand, they cor¬ 
respond so nearly with the ground, that when they are quiet, it is almost impossible to dis¬ 
tinguish them a short distance away. It is seldom, however, that they remain inactive, 
for they are lively birds and are constantly chasing the waves out, in search of food left by 
that great store house of Nature,—the sea. Then when the huge billows come rushing in 
and expend their fury on the shelving beach, in a long, wide sheet of seething foam, the 
little Sanderlings run so quickly before the advancing water, that the spray seldom wets 
their delicate feathers. After a storm, hundreds of these birds may be seen thus engaged, 
spreading out in long lines in order that they may not interfere with oue another, and many 
lonely reaches of sea-board, from Maine to Florida, are enlivened by the presence of these 
true children of the sand. The Sanderlings arrive in New England in August, remain un¬ 
til quite late, then gradually move southward. They are abundant from the Carolinas to 
Key West during winter but migrate northward in May. 
GENUS vn. PHILOMACHUS. THE RUFES. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, about as long as head, straight and slightly expanded at tip. Hind toe, present. Feathers of neck, 
greatly elongated. 
PHILOMACHUS PUGNAX. 
Ruff. 
Philomachus pugnax Gray, List; 1841. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, large. Bill, straight, about as long as head, slender, and widened at tip. Legs, stout. 
Toes, without basal membrane. Tip of closed wing, reaching to end of tail. Tertiaries, nearly as long as primaries. 
Color. Adult. Above, ashy, darkest on rump, palest on head, mottled, sprinkled, and banded irregularly, with ru¬ 
fous and dark-brown. Outer upper tail coverts, white. Under parts, white, mottled to a greater or less extent with black. 
Young. Head and neck all around, ashy, finely streaked with dusky. Remainder of upper parts, dark-brown, each feath¬ 
er, excepting primaries, broadly edged with ashy and yellowish-rufous. Upper tail coverts, white, with a central line of 
dark-brown. Tail, ashy-brown, tipped with white. Remainder of under parts, ashy-white, darkest across breast. Bill, 
dark-brown, lighter at base, iris, brown, legs, greenish-yellow, in all stages. 
OBSERVATIONS. 
This is an exceedingly difficult bird to describe as the colors, especially in the adult stage, are extremely variable. Thus 
the elongated neck feathers vary from nearly white, slightly marked with black, to black, sprinkled with white, and the 
other colors are equally changeable. The young are more uniform. Readdy known by the large size, straight bill, stout 
legs, and white upper tail coverts, centrally lined with dark-brown. Distributed, in summer, throughout Northern Eu¬ 
rope. Rare in Eastern North America. 
DIMENSIONS. 
Average measurements. Length, 10’50; stretch, 21'50; wing, 6'92; tail, 2'62; bill, P55; tarsus, P85. Longest speci¬ 
men, ll'OO; greatest extent of wing, 22 - 00; longest wing, 725; tail, 2 - 75; bill, 1'75; tarsus, 2 00. Shortest specimen, 10 00; 
smallest extent of wing, 21 - 00; shortest wing, 6’40; tail, 2'50; bill, 1 • 40; tarsus, 1'75. 
DESCRIPTION OF NESTS AND EGGS. 
Eggs, placed on the ground in a slight depression of the soil, on a little grass, etc., three or four in number, decided¬ 
ly pyriform in shape, varying from yellowish-ash to greenish in color, spotted and blotched irregularly, and rather coarse¬ 
ly, with brown of varying shades. Dimensions from 115x 160 to l'25x P80. 
