SANDPIPER. GRALLATORES. TOTANUS. 67 



its prey by probing the sands and softer ground with its 

 bill. Its flesh is delicate and well-flavoured. In disposition 

 it is scarcely so shy as the Common Curlew. 



PLATE 14. represents the bird in the natural size. 



The bill, which is upwards of three inches in length, is General 

 black ; with the base of the under mandible flesh-red, tion. 

 Forehead and crown of the head dark hair-brown, di- 

 vided longitudinally by a narrow mesial white streak. 

 The eye-brows are white, streaked with brown. Be- 

 tween the angle of the mouth and the eyes is a patch 

 of hair-brown. Chin and throat white ; the latter with 

 fine hair-brown streaks. Neck and breast greyish- white, 

 with the centres of the feathers hair-brown. Upper 

 part of the back, scapulars, and wing-coverts glossed 

 with hair-brown, margined with greyish-white. Lower 

 part of the back white. Upper tail-coverts white, barred 

 with dark hair-brown. Tail greyish-brown, with darker 

 bars, and the feathers tipped with white. Abdomen 

 white. Legs and toes bluish-grey. 



GENUS TOTANUS, BECEST. SANDPIPER 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



BILL long, or of mean length: in some species slightly 

 recurved ; rounded, solid, hard, and drawn to a point. The 

 upper mandible sulcated ; the furrow seldom extending be- 

 yond half the length of the bill ; the tip arched, and curving 

 over that of the lower one. Tomia of both mandibles bend- 

 ing inwards progressively towards the point. Nostrils basal, 

 lateral, linear, longitudinally cleft in the furrow of the man- 

 dible. Legs long, slender, naked above the tar sal joint. Toes 

 three before, and one behind. Front toes united at the base 

 by a membrane; that connecting the outer with the middle 



