Chapter XVII: Introduction (16)

Four eggs always constitute a complete set with the western
sandpiper, but occasionally late nests with three eggs in each were
observed, which were probably second layings. They are pyriform to
subpyriform in shape and are placed in the nest with the small ends
together and pointed downward, snuggling amid the loose interior
contents of the nest. The shell is smooth, has a slight luster, and
is strongly constructed. The markings on the same set of eggs
always follow the same type in color, and likewise the ground color
is always the same shade. In the series of eggs the prevalent
ground color is "cream color," but the shades vary from dull white,
which is very rare, to equally rare "wood brown." The ground color
is often almost obliterated by the profuseness of the markings,
especially on the larger two-thirds of the egg. The color of the
surface markings is usually "Kaiser brown," but they show
considerable variation, dependent upon the amount of pigment
deposited, ranging from "brick red" to "chestnut brown." The spots
are somewhat elongated and vary from small pin points to large
blotches that may completely cover the larger end of the egg. These
have a decided tendency to spiral from left to right. The
underlying markings are inconspicuous and are only visible on eggs
having a pale background and then they are of small size and
indistinct. The eggs are generally flecked with additional markings
consisting of a few intense irregular spots or fine lines of slate
black to black. These blackbird-like markings are almost always on
the larger end, although on many eggs they are entirely wanting. In
series the eggs of the western sandpiper have a decidedly bright
red appearance, and are thus distinct from any eggs occurring in
the Hooper Bay region.

The western sandpiper has been known to lay five eggs.

The measurements of 120 eggs, furnished by Mr. Brandt, average 30.8 by 21.9 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =32.5= by 22.3, 32 by =22.8=, =28.7= by 21.6, and 30.3 by =21.1= millimeters.

_Young._--H. B. Conover tells me that both sexes incubate, at least both had incubation patches. He says in his notes:

On June 15 the first newly hatched young were found. The parents
were very solicitous and flew about twittering anxiously. Soon
other old birds joined them and seemed just as anxious as if the
young were their own. This habit of these sandpipers in joining
forces to help their neighbors was very noticeable both before and
after the eggs had hatched. By June 30 half-grown young that could
already fly for a few yards were being seen. Western sandpipers
with their chicks were everywhere, and during a walk around the
tundra you had a constant attendance of anxious mothers and fathers
wheeling about. Eggs were still being found on July 5. By July 18
the mud flats were covered with fully fledged young of this
species.

The incubation period for this species seems to be about 21 days.
A nest found on May 26 with four eggs hatched on June 15 late in
the evening. Another found on May 29 with three eggs in it, had
four eggs on May 30, and three young and a pipped egg on the
evening of June 19. The rapidity with which these birds lay and
hatch their eggs and raise their young is very remarkable. In 60
days from their arrival on the nesting grounds the young are full
grown and taking care of themselves.

Mr. Brandt in his manuscript says:

It seemed to us as if every western sandpiper about Hooper Bay must
have deposited its first egg on practically the same day, because
the four days following May 26 more than 50 nests were recorded,
and after June 15 the beautiful brown and black mottled young all
of the same size were to be found everywhere. These newly born bird
mites are not long abed, however, for in one case an hour after
hatching their cradle was empty.

_Plumages._--The downy young western sandpiper, when first hatched, is richly colored in warm, bright browns and buffs, quite different in appearance from the young semipalmated sandpiper. Behind a broad "cinnamon buff" forehead is a large, rounded crown patch extending from above the eyes to the nape, in which the down is basally black, but deeply tipped "burnt sienna"; in the center of this a cluster of buffy down tips produces a spot, which is divided by a blackish median stripe extending down to the bill; a band of pale buff, produced by down tips, encircles the sides and rear of the crown patch; there is a loral stripe and a short malar stripe of black; the sides of the head and neck are "cinnamon buff"; and a variable pattern of "burnt sienna" decorates the auricular region, behind and above the eye. The remainder of the upper parts, back, wings, rump, and thighs are a mixture of black and dark, rich browns, "bay," "burnt sienna," and "amber brown," sprinkled, in an irregular pattern, in the darker portions with tiny buff tips. The under parts vary from pale buff on the breast to buffy white on the throat and to white on the belly. The bright colors fade to dull browns and grayish as the chick grows older. The first of the juvenal plumage appears on the scapulars and then on the sides of the breast.

In fresh juvenal plumage, as seen in Alaska in June, the crown is "sepia" with "pinkish cinnamon" edgings; the nape is "drab-gray," streaked with dusky; the feathers of the mantle are brownish black, edged with "tawny" on the back and broadly edged with "tawny" and white on the scapulars; the rump, upper tail coverts, and central tail feathers are "sepia"; the other rectrices are "light mouse gray"; the wing coverts are "mouse gray," tipped with "tawny" or lighter buff; the throat and under parts are white, washed on the breast with "light cinnamon-drab," and streaked on the sides of the breast with dusky. This plumage fades somewhat during migration and the body plumage is mostly all molted before October. In their first winter plumage young birds can be distinguished from adults only by the wing coverts and a few retained scapulars and tertials. At the first prenuptial molt they become practically adult.

Adults have a complete postnuptial molt in the summer and fall, molting the body plumage in July and August and the wings and tail in November or later. The prenuptial molt in March and April involves only the body plumage. The fresh plumage, in April, is veiled with "drab-gray" tips, which soon wear away, revealing the bright nuptial colors.

_Food._--Very little has been published on the food of the western sandpiper, but it probably feeds on the same things as the other small sandpipers with which it associates. Arthur H. Howell (1924) says:

Six stomachs of this bird collected in Alabama showed its food to
be minute fly larvae, aquatic beetles and bugs, marine worms, and
small snails.

Stuart T. Danforth (1925) found 150 bloodworms and a Hydrophilid larva in the stomach of one taken in Porto Rico.

_Behavior._--S. F. Rathbun has sent me the following notes on the habits of the western sandpiper on the coast of Washington:

This is one of the small sandpipers of this region that will be
found common at the time of the migration periods along the ocean
beaches and on the tide flats. It occurs in flocks of varying
sizes, some of which contain an exceedingly large number of birds.
At times if care is used one can approach a flock quite closely,
often within 15 or 20 feet, and it is of interest to watch the
actions of the individuals. They are active birds, being constantly
on the move as they feed, and while thus engaged keep up a
continual conversation, as it were, this being of the nature of a
soft, rolling whistle which is pleasant to hear. These sandpipers
seem to prefer to feed at or near the waters edge, particularly
where there is an ebb and flow, being very active in following up
the water as it recedes and equally so in avoiding its incoming,
but always at the very edge as it were. They secure their food by a
skimming like movement of the bill over the surface of the mud that
has just been covered by the water, and as the birds advance or
retreat in following the flow it is quite amusing to observe the
seeming pains taken to avoid coming into contact with it. And still
at times individuals may be seen in some of the very shallow spots.
It is a fine sight to see a flock of these sandpipers suddenly take
alarm as they are feeding; all quickly spring into the air as if
moved by the same impulse at exactly the same moment, and then form
a compact body that will execute a variety of evolutions in perfect
harmony. The flock will rise and fall and wheel and turn, and at
times may split into several smaller ones, these to again reunite,
and should one happen to stand where the light falls directly on
the birds the white of their underparts as they turn is very
striking. These actions may be repeated a number of times, and then
without warning the flock of birds will alight and quickly scatter
in search of food. Scenes like this are what give an enlightenment
to the waste places and fortunately, under the protection now
afforded the species, are likely to continue to be enacted in the
future. But large as the numbers of the western sandpiper still
appear to be, they are not comparable to those of fifteen or twenty
years ago, and the cause of this decrease in their numbers is the
same old story. It seems hardly possible that a bird so small could
have been regarded as game and its hunting come under the name of
sport, but such was the case and it brought about the logical
result. One may be thankful, however, that this no longer can be
done, and hope that the lapse of time may bring about somewhat of
an increase in the number of these birds.

_Voice._--John T. Nichols contributes the following on the calls of this species:

The most common loud call of the western sandpiper has the _ee_
sound found in the _kreep_ of the least sandpiper, a plaintive
quality as in the voice of the sanderling, and suggests somewhat
the squawk of a young robin. It is variable and may be written
_chee-rp_, _cheep_, or _chir-eep_. It seems to be the flight note
of the species, corresponding to the _cherk_ of the semipalmated
sandpiper, and is also used by a bird on the ground calling to
others in the air which alight with it, as such flight notes
sometimes are. Its closest resemblance with a note of the
semipalmated is to the _serup_ sometimes heard from that bird when
flushing.

Some of the calls of the western are apparently indistinguishable
from those of the semipalmated sandpiper, but as studied on the
northwest coast of Florida, where it greatly outnumbered the other
form, more seemed different. Birds took wing with a _sirp_, or at
another time a _chir-ir-ip_, which heard also in a medley of
variations from a flock already on the wing, suggesting the notes
of the horned lark, may be more or less analogous with the short
flocking note of the semipalmated sandpiper.

_Field marks._--It is most difficult and often impossible to distinguish between the western and the semipalmated sandpipers in life; and I have experienced difficulty in distinguishing between them even in the hand. The western has a longer bill, and I believe that the bill measurements of corresponding sexes do not overlap, though they approach very closely; but the longest-billed female semipalmated may have a longer bill than the shortest-billed male western. In spring and summer plumages the western shows much more rufous in the upper parts and is more conspicuously and more heavily streaked on the breast, but in winter plumage the two species are very much alike. Mr. Nichols has given me a few characters by which this species can be recognized even in winter; he calls it "a somewhat larger, rangier, paler, grayer bird" than the semipalmated; it also has "better developed white stripes over the eyes which meet more broadly on the forehead, the top of the head is not so dark, its dark auricular area is not so prominent, the markings on the top, and particularly on the sides, of the head and neck are finer.

As to the bills, he says:

There is a subtle difference in their bills, however, which I have
frequently noticed in life and once or twice checked by taking
specimens. The bill of a long-billed semipalmated sandpiper is
quite straight and becomes slender toward the end; that of a
short-billed western is not so slender toward the end and with just
an appreciable downward bend before its tip. In long-billed
individuals of the western sandpiper the bill becomes slender
toward the end and frequently has a decided drop at the tip. Such
birds are unmistakably different to anyone thoroughly familiar with
the semipalmated sandpiper.

_Fall._--Like many other waders, these little sandpipers begin to move off their breeding grounds at a very early date. As early as June 21, 1914, F. S. Hersey saw western sandpipers flocking at the mouth of the Yukon River, Alaska. Some of the flocks contained from 40 to 60 birds. The larger flocks were all of this species, but the smaller flocks often contained one long-billed dowitcher.

Doctor Nelson (1887) says, of its fall wanderings:
Early in July the young are on the wing and begin to gather in
flocks toward the 1st of August. The last of these birds are seen
on the coast of Norton Sound and the Yukon mouth the 1st of
October. Although it is not recorded from the Seal and Aleutian
Islands, I have seen the bird at St. Lawrence Island, south of
Bering Straits, and at several points along the northeastern coast
of Siberia, and it frequents the Arctic coasts of Alaska in
addition to being found throughout the interior along streams where
suitable flats occur. Murdoch notes it as a fall visitor at Point
Barrow. It has been found in abundance on the southeast coast of
the Territory, where it occurs during the migrations.

On the coast of British Columbia and farther south it is an abundant fall migrant, but it is rare or casual inland; the first arrivals sometimes reach California before the middle of July. Migration records for the great interior are almost entirely lacking and how it reaches the Atlantic coast, where it is so abundant in fall and winter, is a mystery.

Mr. Nichols wrote to me as follows:

The occurrence of this bird on the North Atlantic coast of the
United States is irregular. At times it is really numerous on Long
Island over periods of several years, and then it becomes rare
again. In the 1912 southward migration the western was carefully
looked for among the abundant semipalmated sandpiper but no
evidence of its presence was found. In 1913 a single bird with a
very white head and a peculiar note suggesting a young robin was, I
now feel confident, a western sandpiper, at the time it passed as
unidentified. The following year one of the white-headed
long-billed juvenal westerns was picked out in a flock of
semipalmated in August and collected. Later several others, all
well-marked birds were identified in flocks of the semipalmated. In
1916 and 1917 the species was still more numerous. On October 12,
1917, at Long Beach with R. C. Murphy it was estimated that about
one-half the _Ereunetes_ were this, one-half the common eastern
form. Specimens of each were obtained from gunners present. The
following year (1918) a flock on the beach in late spring (June 2)
were predominatingly western; the species returned again from the
north in early July (July 4). During this or the immediately
succeeding southward migrations the semipalmated fell off in
numbers, and furthermore, a great many birds thought to be western
were indeterminate. Mr. E. P. Bicknell met the same condition which
I found at Mastic further west at Long Beach. I remember a letter
wherein he spoke of the semipalmated being replaced by the western,
but I did not take just that view of it. For a year or two I have
no real idea how common either species was. I saw numerous birds
that seemed to be western, but mostly indeterminate, and took no
specimens. Later the standard semipalmated reestablished its
usually large numbers and this season (1925) probably for the first
time the western was again common among them, about as in 1916,
some of this latter form easily identifiable birds (in life).

_Winter._--Arthur T. Wayne (1910) says:

The western sandpiper is the most abundant of all the waders that
winter on this coast. It is not unusual to see thousands of these
birds any day during the winter months. It can almost be considered
a permanent resident, as it is only absent from May 20 until July
8. The adults arrive in worn breeding plumage and immediately begin
to moult the feathers of the head and throat. By the first week in
August they have acquired their autumn plumage.

Among the big flocks of small sandpipers that we saw all winter frequenting the extensive mud flats in the vicinity of Tampa Bay, Florida, I am satisfied that this species was well represented, if not the predominating species. I confess that I can not identify in life more than a very small percentage of these little "peep," and then only when seen under most favorable circumstances. One dislikes to shoot any number of the gentle little birds for identification. But what few we shot proved to be western sandpipers, and I am inclined to think that most of them were. Mr. Nichols writes to me:

In my limited experience _mauri_ is commoner than _pusillus_ on the
west coast of Florida. In Wakulla County in March and September,
1919, most all the _Ereunetes_ were western, only one or two among
them definitely identified as _pusillus_; and in April, 1917, two
or three western were identified with least sandpipers south of
Sanibel Light.

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--North America, Central America, the West Indies, and northern South America.

_Breeding range._--So far as known, the western sandpiper breeds only in Alaska. North to Cape Prince of Wales, Cape Blossom, Point Barrow, and Camden Bay. East to Camden Bay and St. Michael. South to St. Michael, Pastolik, and Hooper Bay. West to Hooper Bay, Nome, and Cape Prince of Wales. It has been taken in summer in northeastern Siberia at two points, East Cape on July 14, 1913, and Cape Serdze, on July 16, 1913.

_Winter range._--The Pacific, Gulf, and South Atlantic coasts of the United States, the West Indies, Central America, and northern South America. North to Washington (Dungeness Spit, and Smith Island); Texas (Brownsville and Corpus Christi); Louisiana (Cameron and Vermilion Parishes); Alabama (Dauphin Island); and rarely, North Carolina (Pea Island). East to rarely, North Carolina (Pea Island and Fort Macon); South Carolina (Charleston); Georgia (Blackbeard Island); Florida (Amelia Island, and Fort Myers); Cuba (Guantanamo); and Trinidad. South to Trinidad; Venezuela (Margarita Island); probably northern Colombia (Sabanilla); probably Costa Rica (Barranca Puntarenas); Tehuantepec (Tehuantepec City); and Lower California (La Paz). West to Lower California (La Paz); California (San Diego County, Alameda, Oakland, and Berkeley); and Washington (Point Chehalis; Seattle, and Dungeness Spit). It also has been detected in winter on San Clemente Island, off the coast of southern California.

_Spring migration._--The spring movement of birds that have wintered on the South Atlantic coast is imperfectly known, there being available no interior records that indicate the route by which they reach the breeding grounds. The species has been detected at Long Beach, New York, as early as April 25, and at Mastic, New York, on May 12, while late spring departures from South Carolina have been noted at Charleston on May 8, and from Mastic, New York, on June 2.

Early dates of arrival in the West are: Arizona, Fort Verde, April 11, and San Pedro River, April 17; Colorado, Denver, May 2, and Loveland, May 9; Nevada, Smoky Creek, May 6; Idaho, Meridian, May 6; British Columbia, Sumas, April 20, and Chilliwack, April 26; and Alaska, Kuiu Island, April 28, Craig, May 2, Patterson's Bay, May 7, Admiralty Island, May 8, Fort Kenai, May 12, Hooper Bay, May 14, and Prince of Wales Island, May 15.

Late dates of spring departure at western points are: Texas, Somerest, May 5, San Angelo, May 6, Seadrift, May 8, and Tom Green and Concho Counties, May 12; Kansas, Lawrence, May 26; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 24, and Forestburg, May 26; lower California, San Quentin Bay, May 10; California, Fresno, May 12, Santa Barbara, May 16, Los Angeles, May 19, Alameda, May 21, and Owens Lake, June 1; Oregon, Mercer, May 14; Washington, Ilwaco, May 18, Neah Bay, May 24, Clallam Bay, May 25, and Quillayute Needles, May 30.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of arrival in the fall are: British Columbia, Courtenay, July 7, Nootka Sound, July 23, and Okanagan Landing, July 28; Washington, Cape Flattery, July 2, Destruction Island, July 3, and Granville, July 4; Oregon, Cow Creek Lake, July 4; California, Santa Barbara, July 3, Fresno, July 5, and Tulare Lake, July 7; Lower California, San Quentin, August 24; Mexico, San Mateo, August 7; Idaho, Meridian, July 23, and Big Lost River, July 25; Wyoming, Fort Bridger, July 13; Oklahoma, Old Greer County, July 19; Arizona, Tucson, August 16, and San Bernardino Ranch, August 24; Texas, Mobeetie, July 27, Beaumont, August 5, Rockport, August 12, Hereford, August 18, and Padre Island, August 21; Massachusetts, Monomoy Island, July 19, and Nahant, August 4; New York, Mastic, July 4, and Freeport, July 16; South Carolina, Charleston, July 8; and Florida, James Island, July 20.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, Craig, September 24, and St. Lazaria Island, September 29; British Columbia, Chilliwack, September 11, and Comox, September 26; Montana, Great Falls, September 4; New Mexico, Albuquerque, October 5; Massachusetts, North Truro, September 2, and Harvard, September 8; New York, Chateaugay, September 13, Amityville, September 17, and Long Beach, October 12; New Jersey, Cape May County, September 14; District of Columbia, Anacostia River, September 25; and Virginia, Four-mile Run, September 11.

_Casual records._--Casual occurrences of the western sandpiper must, of course, be based upon specimen evidence, as this species is easily confused with the semipalmated sandpiper. For this reason several records are considered doubtful, while in other regions it may be more numerous than is now known. One was taken August 21, 1907, at Beaver, Pennsylvania, while two were collected at Burlington, Iowa, on October 15, 1895, and one at Columbus, Ohio, on September 12, 1925.

_Egg dates._--Alaska: 159 records, May 23 to July 7: 80 records, May 29 to June 15.

CROCETHIA ALBA (Pallas)

SANDERLING

HABITS

Along the forearm of Cape Cod, from the elbow at Chatham to the wrist near Provincetown, extend about 30 miles of nearly continuous ocean beaches, to which we can add 10 more if we include that long, narrow strip of beach and marsh called Monomoy. Facing the broad Atlantic and exposed to all its furious storms, these beaches are swept clean and pounded to a hard surface by the ceaseless waves. Even in calm weather the restless ocean swells and surges up and down over these sloping sands, and the winter storms may make or wash away a mile or so of beach in a single season. Here on the ocean side of the beach, the "back side of the beach," as it is called on the cape, is the favorite resort of the little sanderlings in fair weather or in foul. They are well named "beach birds," for here they are seldom found anywhere except on the ocean beaches, and I believe that the same is true of the Pacific coast. They are particularly active and happy during stormy weather, for then a bountiful supply of food is cast up by the heavy surf. But at all times the surf line attracts them, where they nimbly follow the receding waves to snatch their morsels of food or skillfully dodge the advancing line of foam as it rolls up the beach.

_Spring._--To the ends of the earth and back again extend the migrations of the sanderling, the cosmopolitan globe trotter; few species, if any, equal it in world-wide wanderings. Nesting in the Arctic regions of both hemispheres, it migrates through all of the continents, and many of the islands, to the southernmost limits of south America and Africa, and even to Australia.

The spring migration starts in March, though the last migrants may hot leave their winter resorts until late in April; they have been noted in Chile from April 11 to 29, and even in May. The earliest migrants have been known to reach New England and Ohio before the end of March. The main flight passes through Massachusetts in May, a few birds lingering into June. In the interior and on the Pacific coast the dates are about the same. C. G. Harrold has taken it in Manitoba as early as April 29, but William Rowan (1926) says that the main flight comes along during the last week in May and the first few days of June, when it is abundant.

A. L. V. Manniche (1910) thus describes the arrival of the sanderling on its breeding grounds in northeastern Greenland:

The sanderling arrived at Stormkap singly or in couples
respectively June 2, 1907, and May 28, 1908. In company with the
other waders and large flocks of snow buntings, which arrived at
the same time, the sanderlings would in the first days after their
arrival resort to the few spots in the marshes and the surrounding
stony plains, which were free from snow; here they led a miserable
existence. Heavy snow storms and low temperature in connection with
want of open water made the support of life difficult to the birds.

The temperature increased quickly and caused in a few days the
places in which the birds could find food to extend very much. The
areas free from snow grew larger and larger, and the ice along the
beaches of small lakes and ponds with low water disappeared before
the scorching sun; at the same time small ponds of melting snow
were formed around in the field. Now the sanderlings would in
couples retire from the party of other birds, and lead a quiet and
tranquil life on the stony and dry plains. Now and then they would
pay a visit to ponds of melting snow and beaches of fresh water
lakes in order to bathe and seek food, and here they would join
the party of other small waders as for instance _Tringa alpina_
and _Aegialitis hiaticula_. According to my experience old birds
would never resort to salt water shore.

_Courtship._--The same observer tells us all we know about the courtship of the sanderling, as follows:

The pairing began toward the middle of June. The peculiar pairing
flight of the male was to be seen and heard when the weather was
fine, and especially in the evening. Uttering a snarling or slight
neighing sound, he mounts to a height of some two meters from the
surface of the ground on strongly vibrating wings, to continue at
this height his flight for a short distance, most frequently in a
straight line, but sometimes in small circles.

When excited he frequently sits on the top of a solitary large
stone, his dorsal feathers blown out, his tail spread, and his
wings half let down, producing his curious subdued pairing tones.
He, however, soon returns to the female, which always keeps mute,
and then he tries by slow, affected, almost creeping movements to
induce her to pairing, until at last the act of pairing takes
place; when effected, both birds rush away in rapid flight, to
return soon after to the nesting place. I have also observed males
in pairing flight without being able to discover any female in the
neighborhood, and then, of course, without realizing the pairing
as completing act. The male is in the pairing time very
quarrelsome, and does not permit any strange bird to intrude on
the selected domain. He seems to be most envious against birds of
his own kin.

_Nesting._--The sanderling breeds only in the far north, so far north that only very few Arctic explorers have found its nest. Strangely, however, the first recorded nest was found in a region where it rarely breeds and considerably south of its main breeding grounds. This was the nest found by Roderick MacFarlane (1908) on the barren grounds of northern Canada, of which he says:

On the 29th of June, 1864, we discovered a nest of this species in
the barren grounds east of Fort Anderson. It contained four eggs,
which we afterwards learnt were the first and only authenticated
examples at that time known to American naturalists. The nest was
composed of withered grasses and leaves placed in a small cavity or
depression in the ground. The contents of the eggs were quite
fresh, and they measured 1.44 inches by 0.95 to 0.99 in breadth,
and their ground color was a brownish olive marked with faint spots
and blotches of bister. These markings were very generally
diffused, but were a little more numerous about the larger ends.
They were of an oblong pyriform shape. The parent bird was snared
on the nest. It is a very rare bird in the Anderson River country,
and we failed to find another nest thereof.

The main breeding grounds of the sanderling are probably on the more northern Arctic islands, but not enough nests have ever been found anywhere to produce the hosts of birds which we see on migrations. Col. H. W. Feilden (1877) gives the following description of his discovery of the nest of this species:

I first observed this species in Grinnell Land on the 5th of June,
1876, flying in company with knots and turnstones; at this date it
was feeding, like the other waders, on the buds of _Saxifraga
oppositifolia_. This bird was by no means abundant along the coast
of Grinnell Land, but I observed several pairs in the aggregate,
and found a nest of this species containing two eggs in latitude
82° 33' N. on June 24, 1876. This nest, from which I killed the
male bird, was placed on a gravel ridge, at an altitude of several
hundred feet above the sea, and the eggs were deposited in a slight
depression in the center of a recumbent plant of Arctic willow, the
lining of the nest consisting of a few withered leaves and some of
the last year's catkins. August 8, 1876, along the shores of
Robeson Channel, I saw several parties of young ones, three to four
in number, following their parents, and led by the old birds,
searching most diligently for insects. At this date they were in a
very interesting stage of plumage, being just able to fly, but
retaining some of the down on their feathers.

The best account we have of the home life of the sanderling is given to us by Mr. Manniche (1910), who found this species to be one of the commonest breeding birds in northeastern Greenland. He writes:

In the extensive moor and marsh stretches west of Stormkap are many
smaller stony and clayey parts lying scattered like a sort of
islands. As these "stone isles" are most restricted in size, I
could without special difficulty realize the existence of the birds
here, and I found several nestling sanderlings on such places. The
problem was decidedly more difficult to me when the birds had their
homes on the extensive table-lands farther inland; here it will
depend on luck to meet with a couple of nestling sanderlings.

The laying began about June 20. The first nest found containing
eggs dates from June 28; these had, however, already been brooded
for some days. The clutch of eggs latest found dates from July 15;
the eggs in this nest were very much incubated. The sanderling
places its nest on the before mentioned dry clay-mixed stony
plains sparsely covered with _Salix arctica_, _Dryas octopetala_,
_Saxifraga oppositifolia_, and a few other scattered low growths.
I only found the nest on places of this type, never on moors or
plains entirely uncovered. The larger or smaller extent, the
higher or lower position over the level of the sea and the
distance from nearest shore of such locality is, according to my
experience, of no consequence. It only seems, as if the sanderling
prefers to nest on such places, which are situated not very far
from fresh water--a lake or a pond--to the shores of which the
young ones are often directed. Some nests found prove, however,
that the birds do not insist upon this.

The situation of the nest is also extremely constant. At the
edge--or rarer farther in--of a tuft of _Dryas_, the bird will form
a cup-shaped not very deep nest hollow, the bottom of which is
sparsely lined with withered leaves of _Salix arctica_ or other
plants growing in the neighbourhood. In size, and partly in shape
the sanderling's nest resembles that of _Tringa alpina_. The
striking likeness in color to the surroundings and the monotonous
character of the landscape makes it extremely difficult to find the
nest unless the bird itself shows the way to it. The number of eggs
in a clutch is always four. I found eleven nests with eggs and some
fifty hatches of downy young ones but none of these differed from
the normal number.

By excellent tactics the breeding female understands to keep secret the hiding place of the nest. She will generally leave the nest so early and secretly, that even the most experienced and attentive eye does not perceive it. She rushes rapidly from the nest with her head pressed down against her back executing some peculiar creeping movements quite mute, and hidden between stones and plants; following natural hollows in the ground she will first appear in a distance of at least 100 meters from the nest. By means of short, snarling, and faint cries and now and then by flying up, she will then try to turn one's attention to herself. She will often settle for some moments on small stones, clods of earth, and similar places, from which she again will rush away with her dorsal feathers erected and her wings hanging down and always in a direction opposite to that in which her nest is situated.

H. E. Dresser (1904) gives a translation of notes on this species made by Dr. H. Walter in the Taimyr Peninsula, from which I quote as follows:

The nests, found late in June and early in July, contained four
eggs each in three cases and three eggs in one case. The nest was
placed, unlike that of the other waders, which affected the
grass-covered portions of the tundra, between bare clay lumps on
moss, and consisted of a shallow depression lined with a few dry
straws and a white tangle. In two cases the male, and in two the
female, was incubating. On the 16/29 July, when the young in down
were taken, the male showed anxiety, but the female was not seen.
During the breeding season some of these birds wandered about in
small flocks. This species remained until the end of August.

_Eggs._--The sanderling lays four eggs, sometimes only three. The eggs are very rare in collections and few are available for study, but they have been well described and fully illustrated. The eggs taken by Doctor Walter are described by Mr. Dresser (1904) as follows:

Blunt pyriform, fine grained, with a faint gloss. Ground color pale
yellowish white, with a very pale greenish tinge and somewhat
marked with small yellowish brown and dark brown spots; a few
indistinct light violet gray markings; at the larger end a few
blackish dots and streaks.

In the colored illustrations of 10 eggs before me, the shapes vary from ovate pyriform, the prevailing shape, to subpyriform. The prevailing ground colors are greenish olive, "ecru-olive," "lime green," or "grape green"; a few eggs are more buffy, "cream buff" to "deep olive buff." The markings are small, and often inconspicuous, spots, scattered quite evenly over the entire surface, but sometimes more thickly about the larger end. These are in dull shades of brown, "buffy brown," "snuff brown," or "sepia." They are not handsome or showy eggs. The measurements of 41 eggs, furnished by Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, average 35.7 by 24.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =38.2= by 24.7, 34.1 by =26.1=, =33.1= by 24.4 and 35.3 by =23.5= millimeters.

_Young._--Authorities seem to differ as to whether both sexes incubate or not. Both Feilden and Walter secured incubating males, but Manniche (1910) says:

Till the laying is finished both birds will faithfully accompany
each other, but as soon as the brooding begins, the males will join
in smaller flocks and wander around on the table lands and at the
beaches of the fresh waters, often in company with _Tringa canutus_
and _Strepsilas interpres_. They usually left the country some days
before the middle of July. I secured several males for examination
but never found the least sign of a breeding spot.

He gives the period of incubation as 23 to 24 days and says of the young:

The bursting of the egg shells will generally begin already some
three days before the emergence of the young. The mother bird will
immediately carefully carry the shells away from the nest in order
not to attract the attention of ravens and skuas. Between the
emergence of the young will elapse not more than a few hours; as
soon as the latest born young one feels sufficiently strong; that
is, when the down is dry, all the nestlings will leave the nest at
the same time. If the old female considers the nearest surroundings
of the nest to be unsafe or too difficult in food for the brood,
she will immediately lead the young away. Thus I have met with
newly hatched young ones, hardly one hour after their departure
from the nest in a distance of 500 to 600 meters from this. In the
cases concerned the disturbance by my frequent visits to the nests
during the breeding may have caused the early departure.

In the following 12 to 14 days the chicks are guarded by their
careful and extremely vigilant mother, who leads them over stony
plains, by overflows of melted snow and fresh-water beaches; they
are eagerly occupied in seeking food, which at this period
exclusively consists of small insects and larvae and pupae of
these. I have often observed that the chicks take shelter under
the wings of their mother from the cold nights and the heavy
showers. The chicks' power of resistance against cold and severe
weather is relatively small.

When the sanderling wants to protect her young ones against
hostile attacks she executes still more surprising systematic
tactics than she does when brooding. Already when at a distance of
some 200 to 300 meters from the young ones the old female would
rush toward me and by all kinds of flapping and creeping movements
in an opposite direction try to lead me astray; all the while she
would squeak like a young one, and now growl angrily, striving to
draw my attention toward herself only. Now and then she would rise
very high in the air in a direct rapid flight, to disappear behind
a rock on the opposite beach of a lake, etc. From quite another
direction she soon appeared again just before my feet.

If I finally retired still farther away from the young ones and for
a while kept myself hidden in the field, she would fly slowly,
sometimes quite low, over the earth to the spot where the young
still were lying motionless and mute, with their bodies pressed
flat against the earth and their neck and head stretched out. When
at last the female considers the danger to be over, she, flying or
running close to the chicks, produces a short chirping song, at the
tones of which all four young ones suddenly get up and begin to run
about. Only in this case the sanderling produces its highly
peculiar "sanderling song," which is very similar to the song of
_Sylvia curruca_. As long as the young kept lying quiet on the
ground in the before-mentioned attitude they were extremely
difficult to find, if I had not from my ambush by aid of my field
glass exactly marked down the spot where they last appeared. The
young ones do not seek any real cover, as in hollows in the ground,
under plants, behind stones, or similar natural hiding places. When
I had found a single young one, which while I kept it in my hands
began to chirp, it generally happened that the three other young,
which had till then kept quiet, suddenly rose and, with the wings
raised, uttered a quite fine mouse-like squeaking and hastily
rushed away, while the old female, as if paralyzed, lay down before
my feet, still squeaking exactly like the chicks.

Within 12 to 14 days the young ones are full grown and able to
fly. Strange to say, the brood of the sanderling seems to suffer
very little from hostile persecution, a fact which may be due to
the accomplished vigilance and prudent behaviour of the old female
and the young as well as the extremely suitably coloured clothing
of these. I wonder that these defenceless small beings can avoid
the Polar fox, which in this season more frequently than usual
visits the domain of the waders, and which, as well known, has an
excellent sense of smell.

_Plumages._--The nestling sanderling is thus described in Witherby's Handbook (1920):

Forehead buff with a median black line from base of upper mandible
to crown; nape buff, down with dusky bases; rest of upper parts
variegated light buff, warm buff and black and more or less
spangled white; lores buff, two black lines across lores toward
eye; under parts white, cheeks, chin and throat suffused light
buff.

Mr. Manniche (1910) gives a colored plate showing four ages of downy young sanderlings, which the above description fits. A nestling 7 days old shows the remiges about one-third grown, while the body is still all downy. Another nearly fully grown only 11 days old is still downy on the head, neck, rump, and crissum, but is nearly fully feathered on the mantle and wings, partly feathered on the under parts and the wings extend beyond the stump of a tail; it must be close to the flight stage. Such is the rapid development of these little Arctic birds that Mr. Manniche (1910) says that they can fly when 14 days old.

In fresh juvenal plumage in the Arctic the feathers of the crown, mantle, wing coverts, scapulars, and tertials are blackish brown, broadly tipped, and all except those of the crown are also notched, with buff; the sides of the head, neck, and breast are washed with buff; before these birds reach us on migration these buff tints have mostly faded out to creamy yellow or white; the feathers of the lower back, rump, and upper tail coverts are ashy brown or grayish buff, each with a dusky shaft streak and narrowly tipped with dusky; as these feathers are not molted during the first winter they produce a peculiar rump pattern by which young birds can be easily recognized. Young birds are in juvenal plumage when they arrive here, with conspicuous black and white backs. But the postjuvenal molt begins in September and is generally completed before November; this molt involves the body plumage, except the rump, and some of the wing coverts and tertials. The first winter plumage is like that of the adult, plain gray above and white below, except for the retained juvenal feathers as indicated above.

A partial, or perhaps nearly complete, prenuptial molt takes place in young birds between March and May, involving the body plumage, sometimes the tail and most of the scapulars and wing coverts. In this first nuptial plumage young birds are much like adults, but can be recognized by some retained wing coverts and tertials; the latter are shorter than in adults, reaching not quite to the tip of the fourth primary in the folded wing; in the adult wing the tertials reach nearly to the tip of the third primary. At the next molt, the first postnuptial, the adult winter plumage is assumed.

Adults have a complete postnuptial molt from July to October or later. The body plumage is molted first, mainly in August and September, and the wings later, mainly in October; specimens have been seen with primaries in molt in February and March, but these are probably abnormal. The prenuptial molt of adults is incomplete, involving nearly all of the body plumage, but not all of the feathers of the back, scapulars, tertials, or wing coverts. The fresh nuptial plumage in early May is veiled with broad grayish white tips, which soon wear away. There is great individual variation in the amount of red assumed and in the molting date.

_Food._--The sanderling obtains most of its food by probing in the wet sand of the seashore or by picking up what is washed up and left by the receding waves. The former method is well described by Dr. Charles W. Townsend (1920) as follows:

On the hard wet sand of the beaches one may see in places the
characteristic probings of the sanderling without a trace of their
foot marks, and these may be the cause of considerable mystery to
the uninitiated. While the semipalmated sandpiper runs about with
his head down dabbing irregularly here and there, the sanderling
vigorously probes the sand in a series of holes a quarter of an
inch to an inch apart in straight or curving lines a foot to 2 feet
long. Sometimes the probings are so near together that the line is
almost a continuous one like the furrow of a miniature plough. The
sand is thrown up in advance so that one can tell in which
direction the bird is going. A close inspection of the probings
often reveals their double character, showing that the bill was
introduced partly open. The probings are for the minute sand fleas
and other crustaceans in the sand, their principal food. I have
seen sanderlings running about nimbly on the beach, catching the
sand fleas which were hopping on the surface. I have also seen them
catching flies. I have a record of one I shot in 1884, whose
stomach was stuffed with small specimens of the common mussel,
_Mytilus edulis_.

The food consists mainly of sand fleas, shrimps, and other small crustaceans, small mollusks, marine worms, flies, fly larvae, and other insects, and sometimes a few seeds. Early in the season in the Arctic regions when animal life of all kinds is scarce the sanderling is said to subsist on the buds of saxifrage and other plants, as well as bits of moss and algae.

_Behavior._--I have always loved to walk by the seashore alone with Nature, and especially to tramp for miles over the hard sands of our ocean beaches, where the heaving bosom of the restless sea sends its flood of foaming breakers rolling up the steep slopes, cut into hills and valleys by the action of the waves. From the crest of the beach above or from the lonely sand dunes beyond comes the mellow whistle of the plover, disturbed in his reveries; out over the blue waters a few terns are flitting about or screaming in anxiety for their, now well grown, young perched on the beach. Flocks of small shore birds hurry past well out over the breakers, flashing light or dark, as they wheel and turn; and high overhead the big gray gulls are circling. But right at our feet is one of the characteristic features of the ocean beach, a little flock of feeding sanderlings, confiding little fellows, apparently unmindful of our presence. They run along ahead of us as fast as we can walk, their little black legs fairly twinkling with rapid motion. They are intent only on picking up their little bits of food and most skillfully avoid the incoming wave by running up the beach just ahead of it; occasionally a wave overtakes one when it flutters above it; then as the wave recedes they run rapidly down with it, quickly picking up what food they find. If we force them to fly, which they seem reluctant to do, they circle out over the waves and settle on the beach again a short distance ahead of us; by repeating this maneuver again and again they lead us on and on up the beach, until, tired of being disturbed, they finally make a wide circle out over the water around us and alight on the beach far behind us. Their flight is swift, direct, and generally low over the water, with less of the twistings and turnings so common among shore birds. They usually flock by themselves, but are often associated in small numbers with knots, small plovers, or other beach-loving species. When satiated with food or tired of strenuous activity, they retire to the crest of the beach, or the broad sloping sand plains beyond it, to rest and doze or preen their plumage. Here they stand or squat on the sand, often in immense flocks, all facing the wind. Their colors match their surroundings so well that they are not conspicuous and I have often been surprised to see them rise. These large flocks are generally wary and not easily approached. But small parties or single birds feeding along the surf line are very tame and if we sit quietly on the beach, they will often run up quite close to us. Like many other shore birds, they are fond of standing on one leg or even hopping about on it for a long time, as if one leg were missing; often a number of birds will be seen all doing this at the same time, as if playing a sort of game; but if we watch them long enough, the other leg will come down, for they are not cripples.

_Voice._--J. T. Nichols writes to me of the limited vocabulary of this bird, as follows:

The note of the sanderling is a soft _ket, ket, ket_, uttered
singly or in series somewhat querulous in tone. It is at times used
in taking wing, also with variations in the conversational
twittering of a feeding flock. The sanderling is a rather silent
bird at all times and seems to have a comparatively limited
vocabulary.

_Field Marks._--The sanderling is well named "whitey" or "whiting," for the large amount of white in its plumage, particularly in late summer, fall, and winter, is one of its best field marks. In winter it appears to be nearly all white while on the ground, against which the stiff black legs, the rather heavy black bill and a dark area at the bend of the wing stand out in sharp contrast. In flight the broad white stripe in the wing, contrasted with black, is diagnostic; and the tail appears white, or nearly so, with a dark center. Young birds in the fall can be recognized by the mottled black and white back. Its foot prints in the sand are recognizable, as well as the probings made by its bill.

_Fall._--Mr. Manniche (1910) observed the flocking of the young sanderlings in Greenland, during August, prior to their departure about the end of that month; he writes:

The flocks of sanderlings every day increase in size till they
culminate about August 20th. August 21st, 1906, I met on the shore
at Hvalrosodden with a flock numbering at least 300 sanderlings. I
walked there toward evening and, as the weather was unusualy fine,
the birds were very lively; the imposingly large flock of birds
executed evolutions in the air with incredible dexterity, now
scattered and then in a compact column, now very high in the air
and then close to the glassy level of the sea.

The first adults reach Massachusetts in July and are common or abundant during the latter part of that month and through August. The earlier arrivals are in worn spring plumage, but all stages of body molt are seen during their stay with us. The young birds come along in the latter part of August and are most abundant in September and October, after the adults have gone. The earlier migrants are generally in small flocks or little groups, but the late storms often bring along immense flocks, which settle on the beaches in dense masses or sweep along between the crests of the waves in great clouds.

The sanderling is a common migrant, sometimes abundant, throughout the interior east of the Rocky Mountains, coming along at about the same dates as on the Atlantic coast. Prof. William Rowan tells me of a bird he shot in Alberta on November 8, 1902, that was feeding with a Baird sandpiper "on the ice of a completely frozen lake." It is a common migrant on the Pacific coast at about the same dates as elsewhere. D. E. Brown (notes) records it at Grays Harbor, Washington, as late as December 20, 1917.