302 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



in the north of Europe, and Mr. Seebohm relates that he took 

 fresh eggs in the north of Norway on the 22nd of June. The 

 ground-colour varies from stone-colour to warm clay-brown or 

 pale cinnamon ; the overlying spots and blotches are of a 

 blackish-brown generally, though sometimes reddish, and vary 

 considerably in their distribution. Axis, i"j-i'g ; diam, i'i-i'2. 



III. THE MARSH GREEN-SHANK. TOTANUS STAGNATIL1S. 



Totanus stagnatUis, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 292, cum tab. 

 (1803); Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 422 (1896). 



Adult Male in Winter Plumage. General colour above nearly 

 uniform ashy-brown, some of the feathers slightly margined 

 with white ; scapulars like the back ; lower back and rump 

 pure white ; upper tail-coverts white, mesially streaked and 

 transversely barred with black ; lesser wing-coverts darker 

 brown than the back ; median and greater coverts ashy-brown 

 like the back, with narrow margins of paler brown ; bastard- 

 wing brown like the coverts; primary coverts and quills blackish, 

 fringed with white at the end of the inner web ; secondaries 

 ashy-brown like the greater coverts, and fringed with white at 

 the ends ; the inner secondaries ashy-brown, irregularly spotted 

 with black ; centre tail-feathers ashy, irregularly barred with 

 black, the remainder white, freckled on the outer web and 

 barred on the inner one with blackish ; crown of head ashy- 

 brown like the back, mottled with blackish centres to the 

 feathers; forehead and an indistinct eyebrow hoary-white; 

 lores white ; sides of face, ear-coverts, and cheeks white, spotted 

 or streaked with ashy-brown ; chin, throat, and under surface 

 of body pure white, with a few dusky streaks and bars on the 

 sides of the upper breast ; under wing-coverts and axillaries 

 pure white, the lower primary-coverts grey, edged with white ; 

 quills below ashy, with white fringes to the secondaries ; bill 

 black, olive-brown at base ; feet yellowish-brown with an olive 

 tinge; claws dark brown; iris brown. Total length, 9-5 

 inches; oilmen, r6; wing, 5-2; tail, 2-1; tarsus, 2*1. 



Adults in Summer Plumage. Differ from the winter plumage 

 in having black bars and centres to the feathers of the upper 

 surface; on the throat and breast are some spots and streaks 

 of black, as well as some arrow-head markings, these being less 

 distinct on the flanks. 



