BRITISH BIRDS. 185 



313. Totanus ealidris (Linn.). REDSHANK. 



Hab. Palasarctic region. Wintering in Africa. 



Adult : feathers above light brown, centred and edged 

 with blackish-brown ; secondaries chiefly white ; rump 

 white, slightly mottled with black ; tail white, with 

 blackish bars, central pair brown ; cheeks and under 

 parts white, throat and breast streaked and sides 

 barred with dark brown ; belly white in centre ; bill 

 blackish, reddish at base ; tarsi orange-red. Length : 

 male 9*50 ; wing 5*90 ; female lo'oo ; wing 6*20. In 

 winter slate-brown above ; rump and secondaries white ; 

 below white, sparingly marked. 



Breeds in small numbers everywhere in marshy 

 districts, but the majority leave us in winter. Eggs : 

 yellowish-buff, marked with spots and small blotches 

 of dark purplish-brown; 1*70 by 1*20. Alarm note is 

 a loud took or too-ik^ uttered as the bird hovers in the 

 air ; it also utters a kind of song in the spring. 



314 Totanus fuseus (Linn.). SPOTTED REDSHANK. 



Hab. Northern Palasarctic region. 



Adult : above sooty-black ; rump white ; secondaries 

 white, barred irregularly with dusky-brown; tail 

 dusky-brown, with narrow white bars ; upper and under 

 tail-coverts barred with black and white ; under parts 

 sooty-black, mottled with white on belly ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white as in T. ealidris. In 

 winter darker above than latter, and with white edges 

 to most of the feathers ; rump and secondaries as in 

 spring ; below white, tinged and streaked with dusky- 

 grey on breast. Length 11*25 ; wing 6*50. 



An irregular but not uncommon migrational visitor 

 to East Angiia ; very few have been taken in Scotland ; 

 in Ireland has occurred seven times. 



