352 



TOTANUS. 



Literature. 



tipecific 

 characters. 



Geographi- 

 cal distribu- 

 tion. 



Colour of 

 legs. 



}■ 



Scolopax nigra, 



Scolopax curouica, ^Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. pp. 659, 669, 673 (1788). 



Tringa atra (Sand.), ■ 



Scolopax natans, Oito, Uebers. Buff. Vog. xxvi. p. 234 (1797). 



Tetanus maculatus [TunstaU),\ 



Totanus fuscus [Linn.), >Bechstein, Orn. Taschenb. pp. 284, 286 (1803). 



Totanus natans [Otto), j 



Tringa longipes, Leisler, Nucht. Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. ii. p. 189 (1813). 



Totanus raii, Leach, Syst. Cat. Mamm. l^c. Brit. Mus. p. 31 (1816). 



Erythroscelus fuscus (Linn.), Kaup, Naturl. Syst. p. 54 (1829) . 



Totanus ater (Sand.), Stejneger, Orn. Expl. Kamtsch. p. 129 (1885). 



Plates.— Daub. PI. Enl. no. 875 ; Gould, Birds of Great Brit. iv. pi. 55; Dresser, Birds of 



Europe, viii. pi. 568. figs. 2, 3, pi. 569. fig. 1. 

 Habits. — Seebolim, British Birds, iii. p. 145. 

 Eggs.— Seebohm, British Birds, pi. 32. figs. 4, 5, 6. 



The Dusky Redshank, frequently called the Spotted Redshank, is easily distinguished 

 in summer plumage by its slate-grey head, neck, mantle, and underparts. In winter 

 plumage its close relationship to the Greenshank {T. glottis) and the Redshank {T. calidris), 

 and to the other species of the genus, which, like it, have the loioer back white, becomes 

 apparent. Prom these near allies it is most easily distinguished by the colour of its 

 secondaries, which are white, barred with grey on both webs. 



The Dusky Redshank further resembles the Greenshank and the Marsh-Sandpiper 

 [T. stagnatilis) in having the rudiments of bars on its primaries. 



The Duskv Redshank is not known with certainty to breed anywhere south of the 

 Arctic Circle, but on the tundras above the limit of forest-growth it breeds from Lapland 

 to Behring Straits, though nowhere very abundantly. It has not been recorded from 

 Greenland, Iceland, or the Faroes. On migration it passes in spring and autumn, not only 

 along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts (including those of Great Britain and Japan), but also 

 across country by most, if not all, of the well-known routes of migration. It winters in 

 the basin of the Mediterranean, and in various parts of Africa north of the Equator, and in 

 India, Burma, and China. It has also been said to have strayed during winter as far as 

 Ceylon, but the only record of its occurrence in the southern hemisphere is that of a single 

 example obtained by Layard in the Cape Colony. 



Except during the two seasons of migration it can scarcely be regarded as a shore-bird. 

 Both at its breeding-grounds and in its winter-quarters it frequents marshes, swamps, and 

 the banks of rivers and lakes. 



One of the most interesting facts connected with this species is the seasonal change 

 which takes place in the colour of its legs and feet ; in summer they are dark purple-red, 

 but in winter they change to dull orange-yellow. 



