TOTANUS STAGNATILIS. 



(THE LITTLE GREENSHANK.) 



Totanus stagnating Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. ii. p. 292 (1803); Gould, B. of Eur. iv. pi. 314 

 (1837)'; id. B. of Austr. vi. pi. 37 (1848); Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 266 (1849); 

 Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 26-3 ; Jerdon, B. of Ind. iii. p. 701 (1864) ; 

 Layard, B. of S. Afr. p. 324 (1867); Swinhoe, P.Z. S. 1871, p. 407; Sharpe & Dresser, 

 B. of Eur. pt. 1 (1871); Holdsw. P. Z. 8. 1872, p. 475 ; Shelley, B. of Egypt, p. 257 

 (1872); Adam, Str. Eeath. 1874, p. 338; Legge, Ibis, 1874, p. 29; Von Heuglin, Orn. 

 N.Ost-Afr. ii. p. 1159 (1874); Salvadori, Ucc. di Born. p. 328 (1874); Hume, Str. 

 Eeath. 1875, p. 183 ; Eegge, Ibis, 1875, p. 402 ; Danford & Harvie Brown, t. c. p. 420 ; 

 Butler & Hume, Str. Eeath. 1876, p. 18 ; Armstrong, t. c. p. 348 ; Hume, ibid. 1878 

 (15. ofTenass.) p. 463; Davidson & Wender, ibid. 1S78, vii. p. 89; Hume, ibid. 1879 

 (List B. of Ind.) p. 113. 



Totanus tenuirostris, Horsf. Tr. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 192 (1821). 



IAmosa horsfieldi, Sykes, P. Z. S. 1832, p. 196. 



Totanus lathami, Gray & Hardw. 111. Ind. Zool. pi. 61. fig. 3 (1833-4). 



La petit Chevalier a pieds verts, Cuv. ; Barge grise, Buffon, PL Enl. p. 876 ; Marsh-Sand- 

 piper of some writers; Snippet, Sandpiper, Europeans in Ceylon. Chota gotra, Bengal. 

 (Jerdon) ; Kotan, Tamils in Ceylon. 



Adult male and female. Length 9 - 7 to L0'2 inches : wing 5-5 to 5-75 ; tail 2'3 ; tarsus 2 - 05 to 2 - 25 ; bare tibia TO 

 to L'2 ; middle toe and claw 1*2 to l - 3; bill to gape L65 to L'7. 



His hazel-brown ; bill dark brown, greenish at the base beneath ; legs and feet bluish green. 



Winter plumage (Ceylon). Very similar to the last in general character. Upper surface paler, especially on the head, 

 hind neck, and greater wing-coverts : the head and hind neck with dark mesial lines, and the feathers of the back 

 and wing-coverts wanting the dark indentations and inner edges ; the tertials in some boldly marked with a 

 streak parallel to the edge, or with zigzag bars departing from a dark mesial stripe ; centre tail-feathers washed 

 with pale ashy or reddish cinereous, and handsomely barred with irregular blackish markings, the terminal one 

 being in general arrow-shaped and following the edge of the feather ; face whiter than in the last, the frontal 

 and loral stripes being wanting. 



The markings of the tail are very variable, scarcely any two examples being alike. 



Spring plumage (Africa). Wing 5-3 inches ; tail 2 - 4 ; tarsus 2-0; middle toe l'Oo ; bill to gape L7. 



The feet are said by Nordmann to be occasionally reddish black, slightly tinged with greenish on the articulations. 



Feathers of the head, hind neck, and interscapular region with black centres and rufescent-grey margins, the ground- 

 colour of t he latter, together with that of the scapulars, isabelline-grey, with handsome black central blotches and 

 shaft-stripes of the same hue ; tertials and inner median coverts the same, crossed with angular marks of coal-black ; 

 wings slightly darker than in winter ; tail much the same, but with broader bars ; face, front and sides of neck 

 with black linear marks ; chest aud centre of the breast unspotted white, but the sides of the breast with cross 

 marks and central lines of black ; under tail-coverts with a few black shaft-stripes. 



This plumage is acquired, as a rule, early in the spring. Mr. Hume speaks of a specimen shot in February, on the 

 lrrawaddy delta, in full summer plumage. Individuals in this dress vary considerably, the black markings being 

 longer and more handsomely distributed in some birds than in others. 



Immature (July). Head, upper back, aud wing-coverts blackish brown, the feathers margined with fulvous, broadlv 



