SPOTTED REDSHANK 



lOI 



Spotted Redshank ^^^^ spotted, or, as it is sometimes called, the dusky 

 (Totanus fuseus) redshank, is a somewhat larger bird than the last, 

 measuring a foot in length, and weighing from 7 

 to 8 oz. It is, in fact, the largest British representative of the 

 genus, and may be recognised at a glance by the brown and white 

 barring of the secondary wing-quills and the white on the lower part 

 of the back and rump. In the breeding-season this bird betakes itself 

 to the extreme habitable regions of the far north, nesting well within 

 the Arctic Circle alike in Scandinavia and Eastern Siberia ; while in 

 autumn it returns south to winter in the eenial climate of the 



MOUNTED IN THE ROWLAND 



RD STUDIOS 



SPOTTED REDSHANK. 



countries bordering the Mediterranean, together with India, Burma, 

 and southern China. In England, where it is a comparatively rare 

 visitor, less uncommon during the autumn than in the spring migration, 

 it is more frequently seen in the southern and eastern counties than 

 elsewhere, being but seldom recorded from Wales and the rest of the 

 west coast ; while it is equally rare both in Ireland and Scotland. A 

 pair in breeding-plumage were killed in Kent in May 1905. 



In addition to the features already noticed, the spotted redshank 

 in summer-dress is characterised by the plumage of the upper-parts 

 being sooty black with inconspicuous white spots and white margins 

 to the wing-coverts ; the inner secondary quills have bronze- brown 

 markings, producing a mottled appearance at the edges ; the tail is 

 blackish barred with white ; and, with the exception of the lower 



