GRALLATORES. 



241 



before stated, to prefer soft mtiddy banks to the stony or 

 shingly margins of the rivers. It is a most showy and active 

 Uttle bird, and is so tame that I had not the sHghtest trouble 

 in shooting as many as I pleased. Its actions and manners 

 are very peculiar, and partake both of those of the Dottrell 

 and the Sandpiper ; having the stooping carriage of the 

 former, and the quick bobbing motion of the head and tail of 

 the latter : its olive-green plumage and long tertiaries also 

 ally it to the Sandpipers. 



Those M^ho have closely observed the motions of this bird 

 while running over the ground must have remarked that they 

 much resemble those of the Common Summer Snipe {Actitis 

 hypoleucus), with which, however, it cannot be generically asso- 

 ciated. The flight of the two birds is very different. 



The sexes present no variation in the colour or marking of 

 their plumage, neither did I detect any difference in size by 

 which they might be distinguished. Although they were 

 probably breeding at the period of my visit to the above-men- 

 tioned localities, I could never discover their eggs, nor could 

 the two intelligent natives accompanying me either aid or give 

 me any information on the subject. 



Its food consists of insects of various kinds. 



Head, ear-coverts, back of the neck, and chest black ; a small 

 patch under the eye, throat, chest, sides of the neck, centre of 

 the abdomen, and under tail-coverts white, the latter spotted 

 with dark brown ; back, centre of the wings, and tertiaries 

 olive, tinged w4th bronzy brown ; tips of the secondaries and 

 the inner webs of the tips of the six contiguous primaries white; 

 rump and two middle tail-feathers olive, the remaining tail-fea- 

 thers white; flanks chestnut; irides nearly black, with a narrow 

 black eyelash ; bill pulpy, pink-red at the base, black at the 

 tip ; thigh, knee, and for a quarter of an inch down the tarsus 

 pink-red, the remainder of the tarsus and the toes lively 

 bluish lead-colour. 



Total length 7 inches; bill 1 ; wing 4^; tail 1|; tnrsi IJ. 



VOL. II. K 



