Plate 346
Havell CCXXX
Sanderlings
(Crocethia alba)
My plate of this species,” Audubon wrote, “represents two birds in winter plumage, which were obtained in East Florida in the month of December. The figure of a fine male, which, being on another sheet of paper, was overlooked during my absence from London, you will find in Plate CCLXXXV of ‘The Birds of America.’” The third sanderling, nearly identical to these two birds in its outline, is omitted from this edition. As Audubon stated, Havell added the sanderling to his engraving of Sabine’s gull, Plate 19. This drawing was probably done in England in 1834.
Source: The Original Water-Color Paintings by John James Audubon. Copyright 1966 by American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc.
Learn more about this print on the National Audubon Society's website.