Sandpiper; a genus of birds belonging to the order of grallæ. The bill is somewhat tapering, and of the length of the head; the nostrils are small; the toes are four in number and divided, the hind toe being frequently raised from the ground. According to Dr. Latham there are 45 species, of which 18 are British. We shall describe some of the most remarkable.

1. Vanellus, lapwing, or tewit, is distinguished by having the bill, crown of the head, crest, and throat, of a black colour; there is also a black line under each eye; the back is of a purplish green; the wings and tail are black and white, and the legs red; the weight is 8 ounces and the length 13 inches. It lays four eggs, making a flight nest with a few bents. The eggs have an olive cast, and are spotted with black. The young, as soon as hatched, run like chickens; the parents show remarkable solicitude for them, flying with great anxiety and clamour near them, striking at either men or dogs that approach, and often fluttering along the ground like a wounded bird, to a considerable distance from their nest, to delude their pursuers; and to aid the deceit, they become more clamorous when most remote from it; the eggs are held in great esteem for their delicacy, and are sold by the London poulterers for three shillings the dozen. In winter, lapwings join in vast flocks; but at that season are very wild: their flesh is very good, their food being insects and worms. During October and November, they are taken in the fens in nets, in the same manner that ruffs are; but are not preferred for fattening, being killed as soon as caught.

2. Pugnax. The male of this species is called ruff, and the female reeve. The name ruff is given to the males because they are furnished with very long feathers, standing out in a remarkable manner, not unlike the ruff worn by our ancestors. The ruff is of many different colours as there are males; but in general it is barred with black; the weight is six or seven ounces; the length, one foot. The female, or reeve, has no ruff; the common colour is brown; the feathers are edged with a very pale colour; the breast and belly white. Its weight is about four ounces.

These birds appear in the fens in the earliest spring, and disappear about Michaelmas. The reeves lay four eggs in a tuft of grass, the first week in May, and sit about a month. The eggs are white, marked with large rusty spots. Fowlers avoid in general the taking of the females; not only because they are smaller than the males, but that they may be left to breed.

Soon after their arrival, the males begin to hill, that is, to collect on some dry bank near a pool of water, in expectation of the females, who refer to them. Each male keeps possession of a small piece of ground, which it runs round till the grass is worn quite away, and nothing but a naked circle is left. When a female lights, the ruffs immediately fall to fighting. It is a vulgar error, that ruffs must be fed in the dark lest they should destroy each other by fighting on admission of light. The truth is, every bird takes its stand in the room as it would in the open fen. If another invades its circle, an attack is made, and a battle ensues. They make use of the same action in fighting as a cock, place their bills to the ground and spread their ruffs. Mr Pennant says, he has let a whole room-full a-fighting, by making them move their stations; and after quitting the place, by peeping through a crevice, seen them reform their circles and grow pacific.

When a fowler discovers one of those hills, he places his net over night, which is of the same kind as those that are called clap or day nets; only it is generally single, and is about 14 yards long and four broad. The fowler refers to his stand at day-break, at the distance of one, two, three, or four hundred yards from the nests, according to the time of the season; for the later it is, the fitter the birds grow. He then makes his first pull, taking such birds as he finds within reach; after that he places his stuffed birds or stales to entice those that are continually traversing the fen. When the stales are set, seldom more than two or three are taken at a time. A fowler will take 40 or 50 dozen in a season.

These birds are found in Lincolnshire, the isle of Ely, and in the East Riding of York. They visit a place called Martin-Mere in Lancashire the latter end of March or beginning of April; but do not continue there above three weeks; where they are taken in nets, and fattened for the table with bread and milk, hemped, and sometimes boiled wheat; but if expedition is required, sugar is added, which will make them in a fortnight's time a lump of fat; they then sell for two shillings or half a crown a-piece. They are drest like the woodcocks, with their intestines; and when killed at the critical time, say the Epicures, are the most delicious of all morfels.

3. Canutes, or knot, has the forehead, chin, and lower part of the neck, brown, inclining to ash-colour; the back and scapulars deep brown, edged with ash colour; the covertts of the wings white, the edges of the lower order deeply fo, forming a white bar; the breast, sides, and belly white, the two first streaked with brown; the covertts of the tail marked with white and dusky spots alternately; the tail ash coloured, the outmost feather on each side white; the legs of a bluish grey; and the toes, as a special mark, divided to the very bottom; the weight four ounces and a half. half.—These birds, when fattened, are preferred by some to the ruffs themselves. They are taken in great numbers on the coasts of Lincolnshire, in nets such as are employed in taking ruffs; with two or three dozens of stakes of wood painted like the birds, placed within; 14 dozens have been taken at once. Their season is from the beginning of August to that of November. They disappear with the first frosts. Camden says they derive their name from king Canute, Knute, or Knout, as he is sometimes called; probably because they were a favourite dish with that monarch. We know that he kept the feast of the purification of the Virgin Mary with great pomp and magnificence at Ely; and this being one of the ten-birds, it is not unlikely but he met with it there.

4. The hypoleucos, or common sandpiper, except in pairing time, is a solitary bird: it is never found near the sea, but frequents rivers, lakes, and other fresh waters. Its head is brown, streaked with downward black lines; the neck an obscure ash-colour; the back and coverts of the wings brown, mixed with a glossy green, elegantly marked with transverse dusky lines; the breast and belly are of a pure white; the quill-feathers and the middle feathers of the tail are brown; the legs of a dull pale green.

5. The alpina, or dunling sandpiper, is at once distinguished from the others by the singularity of its colours. The back, head, and upper part of the neck, are ferruginous, marked with large black spots; the lower part of the neck white, marked with short dusky streaks; the coverts of the wings ash-colour; the belly white, marked with large black spots, or with a black crescent pointing towards the thighs; the tail is ash-coloured; legs black; toes divided to their origin. In size it is superior to that of a lark. These birds are found on our sea-coasts; but may be reckoned among the more rare kinds. They lay four eggs of a dirty white colour, blotched with brown round the thicker end, and marked with a few small spots of the same colour on the smaller end. They are common on the Yorkshire coasts, and esteemed a great delicacy.

6. The cinclus, purpure, or flint, is in length 7½ inches; the head and hind part of the neck are ash-coloured, marked with dusky lines; a white stroke divides the bill and eyes; the back is of a brownish ash-colour; the breast and belly white; the coverts of the wings and tail a dark brown, edged with light ash colour or white; the upper part of the quill-feathers dusky, the lower white; the legs of a dusky green; the toes divided to their origin. The bill an inch and a half long, slender, and black; irides dusky.—These birds come in prodigious flocks on our sea-coasts during the winter: in their flight they perform their evolutions with great regularity; appearing like a white or a dusky cloud, as they turn their backs or their breasts towards you. They leave our shores in spring, and retire to some unknown place to breed. They were formerly a well known dish at our tables.