GRALLATORES. 267 



Sp. 530. TOTANUS STAGNATILIS. 



Marsh Sandpiper. 

 Totanus stagnatilis, Temm. Man. d'Orn., torn. iv. p. 414. 



Totanus stagnatilis, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi. pi. 37. 



I shot a specimen of this bird on the banks of the Lower 

 Mokai on the 16th of December 1839 : on comparing it with 

 Indian and European specimens, I find the whole to be iden- 

 tical; the Australian bird is, however, somewhat lighter in 

 colour. The individual above mentioned was feeding on the 

 bank close to the water's edge : from its being the only one I 

 had ever seen alive, I was more desirous of procuring it than 

 of watching its actions, and, as no opportunity afterwards 

 occurred of my so doing with other individuals, I am unable 

 to give any particulars respecting them. 



Lord Lilford, in his " Notes on Birds observed in the 

 Ionian Islands, &c.," published in the 'Ibis' for 1860, says 

 of this species : — " Abundant in March, April, and the early 

 part of May, on the race-course of Corfu. Its habits closely 

 resemble those of the Green Sandpiper {T. ochropus), but it is 

 less shy, and not so clamorous. I have had excellent oppor- 

 tunities of observing closely the habits of this and many 

 other allied species on the race-course, having sometimes seen 

 within a few yards of the spot where I lay hidden T. glottis, 

 T. stagnatilis, T. glareola, T. ochropuSj Himanto^tis melano- 

 pterus, THnga ininuta, Numenius phceopus, and Glareola pra- 

 tincola." 



Face, fore-part of the neck, and all the under surface white ; 

 crown of the head and neck grey, streaked longitudinally with 

 black ; upper surface grey, each feather with a lighter margin ; 

 wings blackish brown ; tail white, marked with diagonal bars 

 of brown ; forehead, rump, and all the under surface white ; 

 bill dark greenish olive, tipped with brown ; legs sickly olive- 

 yellow; irides blackish brown. 



