Vv CHARADRIIDAE 
NO 
oO 
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Here may be mentioned Aechmorhynchus cancellatus (par- 
virostris ),of Christmas and Paumotu Islands in the Pacific, which is 
rufous-brown with white under surface mostly barred with brown ; 
and Prosobonia leucoptera, Latham’s White-winged Sandpiper, from 
Tahiti and Eimeo, with brown head and mantle, chestnut rump 
and lower parts, white wing-patch and superciliary streak——species 
of doubtful affinity, which are both presumably extinct. 
The large genus Zotanus is more inland in its haunts during the 
breeding season than 7ringa. 7’. calidris, the Redshank, is resident 
in Britain, and ranges through Europe, the Mediterranean, and 
Asia south of lat. 60° N., migrating to South Africa, the Indian 
region, and Japan. The upper parts are light brown with darker 
bars and streaks, the primaries being black; the rump, second- 
aries, tail, and lower surface are white, but the two latter are 
barred with blackish and flecked with brown respectively; the 
feet are orange-red, or yellowish in the young. In winter the 
colour is ashy-grey, with nearly white under parts. This bird breeds 
in salt marshes or swamps, not uncommonly far inland, and deposits 
four buff eggs with reddish or purplish-brown spots in grass or rush- 
tufts, making little or no nest, but drawing the herbage together 
over the spot to concealit. Both parents usually rise a long 
way ahead of the intruder, and fly wildly round, uttering their 
shrill whistling cry of “ pitotoi.” Redshanks are especially wary 
on the coast in winter, and, ike Curlews or Lapwings, are the bane 
of the shooter; they can swim and dive, and not uncommonly 
perch on trees; the food, procured on sandy spots or sea-weed- 
covered rocks, consists of molluscs, crustaceans, worms, and aquatic 
insects. 7. fuscus, the Dusky or Spotted Redshank, a scarce visitor 
to our shores, breeds in Europe and Asia, chiefly north of the Arctic 
Circle, and has a similar winter range to its congener. It generally 
nests in forest-clearings some way from water, and lays fine greenish 
eggs, blotched with varied browns. The female sits very closely. 
Less noisy than its kindred, unless accompanied by young, it flies 
comparatively strongly, perches on trees, and recalls the Greenshank 
by its habits. The plumage is black, with white spots above, 
white rump and barred tail; in winter it resembles that of the 
Redshank, and the crimson legs become orange-red. 7. flavipes, 
the Yellowshank, which has wandered to England, inhabits the 
colder parts of North America, and migrates as far as Patagonia ; 
it is black, grey-brown, and white above, and white with dusky 
