394 CHARADRIID.E TOTANUS 



of rivers where it often associates with Curlews, wading in the 

 water up to its body and searching for its food ; it appears to arrive 

 in flocks from the north and then spread over the interior of the 

 country, where it is generally solitary. It has a very characteristic 

 shrill cry, which it utters when on the wing ; it is a powerful flyer 

 and feeds on fish fry, worms, insects and Crustacea. The flesh, 

 according to Andersson, is very palatable. It is not known to breed 

 south of the equator. 



740. Totanus stagnatilis. Marsh Sandpiper. 



Totanus stagnatilis, Bechst. Orn. Tasclienb. ii, p. 292 (1803) ; Gurney, 

 Ibis, 1863, p. 329 [Natal] ; Layard, B. 8. Afr. p. 324 (1867) ; id. 

 Ibis, 1869, p. 76 ; Sharpe and Dresser, B. Eur. viii, p. 151, pi. 566 

 (1871) ; Gurney, in Andersson's B. Damaral. p. 302 (1872) ; Sharpe, 

 ed. Layard' s B. 8. Afr. p. 690 (1884); Seebohm, Geogr. Distr. 

 Charadr. p. 357 (1888) ; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xxiv, p. 422 (1896) ; 

 Shelley, B. Afr. i, p. 192 (1896); Marshall, Ibis, 1900, p. 270; 

 Beichenoiv, Vog. Afr. i, p. 220 (1900) ; Whitehead, Ibis, 1903, p. 237. 



Description. Adult Female in non-breeding plumage. General 

 colour, including the crown, ashy-grey with slight traces of black 

 centres and barring and of white edging to some of the feathers ; 

 wing-coverts slightly darker than the back ; primary coverts and 

 primaries blackish, the latter paler and freckled at the base of the 

 inner web ; secondaries grey fringed with white, otherwise un- 

 marked ; rump and upper tail-coverts white, the latter with a few 

 traces of black bars; central tail-feathers ashy, irregularly barred 

 with black, the others white slightly freckled with blackish ; below, 

 including the lores, eyebrow and axillaries white ; under wing- 

 coverts slightly mottled with grey and brown. 



Iris dark brown ; bill black ; legs and feet yellowish-green. 



Length about 10*5; wing 5 - 3 ; tail 2-25; culmen 1-6; tarsus 

 2-3. 



The sexes are alike ; in the breeding-plumage the general colour 

 above is rather lighter and has a decidedly rufous tinge ; the back 

 and wings are strongly marked with bars and blotches of black ; 

 below, the foreneck and breast are spotted and the flanks slightly 

 barred with black. 



Distribution. The breeding range of the Marsh Sandpiper is 

 somewhat more southerly than that of the Redshank. It may be 

 briefly described as extending from Southern France to Southern 



