BIRDS OF SOUTH AFRICA. 



groove, which extends to or beyond the middle of the bill J 

 the wings long and pointed ; the tail moderate and even, or 

 rounded ; the tarsi more or less long, slender, and covered in 

 front with narrow transverse scales ; the toes usually long 

 and slender ; the lateral ones unequal, and generally united 

 at the base to the middle toe, especially the outer : . the hind 

 toe long, slender, and hardly touching the ground. 



Genus TOTAKUS, Bechstein. 



Bill more or less long and strong, with the culmen straight 

 or slightly curved, and the sides compressed to the tip, which 

 is slightly curved and acute; the gonys long, and slightly 

 curved upwards ; the nostrils linear, placed in a mem- 

 branous' groove, which does not extend beyond half the 

 length of the bill ; wings reaching beyond the end of 

 the tail, and pointed, with the first quill the longest ; 

 tail moderate, and nearly even ; tarsi as long as or longer 

 than, the middle toe, more or less slender, and covered in 

 front with numerous very narrow scales; toes long and 

 slender, the anterior toes united by a membrane, especially 

 the outer ; the hind toe slender, elevated, and hardly touch- 

 ing the ground. 



61O. Totanus Stagnatilis, Bechst. ; 



Totanus, Linn., PL Enl., 876 ; Tringa Guinetta, Pall. 



ABOVE, pale-cinereous; the margins of the feathers whitish ; 

 eyebrows, cheeks, back, and under part, pure white ; neck 

 and breast marked with brown ; tail white, barred with 

 brown. Length, 8" 6 f "; wing, 5" 1'"; tail, 2" 5"'. 



Procured at Natal by Mr. Ayres ; but I have not seen it from the 

 Cape Colony. 



611. TotanUS CalidriS, Bechstein, PL Enl. 827, 

 845 ; Scolopax Calidris, Linn. ; Tringa Gambetta, 

 Gmel., and Tringa Striata, Lath. ; The Redshank, 

 Bewick's Brit. Birds, p. 96. 



PLUMAGE in winter : upper parts of the head and hind-neck, 

 brownish-grey ; fore part of the back, greyish-brown, streaked 

 with dusky ; its hind part white ; the tail and its coverts 

 barred with white and dusky-grey ; the fore part and sides 

 of the neck pale-grey, streaked with dusky, as are the sides ; 

 the rest of the lower parts white. In summer : the lower 



