EASTERN GOLDEN PLOVER 101 



and clear blue-grey at the root ; the whole length about a 

 foot and a quarter, while the bod}' is as big as a small partridge's. 

 The greenshank is a winter visitor, staying from September 

 to April ; it is distributed all across the northern parts of the 

 Old World in summer, and visits Australia as well as India and 

 China in winter. In summer plumage the fore and upper parts 

 are much streaked with black. The marsh sandpiper {Totanus 

 stagnatilis) is like this bird on a small scale. 



Armstrong's Yellowshanks; 



Totanus guttifer* 



Distinguished from the greenshank by its darker tail, rather 

 smaller size, and proportionately shorter legs, which are yellower, 

 this rare bird is probably often passed over ; it is an East Asiatic 

 bird, breeding in the north. In winter it has been got in 

 Hainan, and Hume got it in the Calcutta Bazaar, while 

 Armstrong also obtained it at the mouth of the Rangoon 

 River; but hardly anything is known about it. In summer 

 plumage, the back is nearly black. 



To distinguish this bird certainly, attention should be 

 paid to the length of the shank from hock to toes, which is 

 less than two inches and less than the length of the bill ; whereas 

 in the greenshank the shank similarly measured is 2i inches, 

 and the bill just equals this. 



Eastern Golden Plover. 



Gharadrius fulvus. Battan, Hindustani. 



The Eastern golden plover, whose yellow-speckled plumage 

 and whisthng call make it so distinct from other game-birds 

 of the marshes, is a very well known bird in the East, going 

 about in flocks, and being found not only in India, Burma and 

 Ceylon, but even being common in the Andamans, Nicobars, and 



* haughtoni on plate. 



