TOTANUS STAGNATILIS. S45 



on the scapulars and wing-coverts ; the tertials indented with the same at the margins ; nape and hind neck 

 greyish brown ; centre tad-feathers barred with brown, the remainder pencilled round the edges, the tips tinged 

 with rufescent ; lores and supercilium white, with a dark stripe through the former ; sides of the chest with 

 cross " shadings " of brown. 



Obs. This species is remarkable for the slenderness of its bill. It is very slightly turned up, or rather depressed in 

 the centre, the tip being again curved downwards. In winter plumage it is more entitled to the name of Green- 

 shank than the last-named, the legs of which are more blue than green. As regards size noted by other observers, 

 Dr. Armstrong gives the following measurements :— " Length 10-2 to 10-7 inches ; wing 5-2 to 5-3, expanse 15-5 

 to 16-2; tail 2-6 to 2-85; tarsus 2-0 to 2-03; bill from gape 1-7 to 1-75." I find that in series of European 

 examples the wing varies from 5 - l to 5 - 4. 



Other species of Asiatic Sandpipers are Totanus incanus, which has an easterly range from North-eastern Siberia down 

 through the Malay Archipelago to Australia, extending likewise through Oceania to America ; and a singular 

 local Burmese form discovered by Dr. Armstrong, and named Pseudototanus hcmghtoni. This bird is said to be 

 somewhat allied to the last species, but has a more massive, broader, and blunter-tipped bill, and also shorter legs 

 than a typical Totanus; and Mr. Hume has therefore placed it in a new genus. I have not had the pleasure of 

 seeing a specimen ; but Dr. Armstrong gives the length of a pair as 12-9 (?) to 13-2 ( d ), wing 7-0 to 7-3, tarsus 

 1-65 to 1-85, bill 1-93 to 2-1 respectively. The plumage appears to resemble somewhat that of the Greenshank. 

 I extract the following from this writer's description : — The upper surface is cinereous grey, the feathers with 

 central stripes ; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts white, with dusky terminal spots ; the under surface, 

 under wing, and axillaries pure white, the sides of the neck with narrow dark shaft-stripes ; tail greyish white, 

 margined and tipped with pure white, the central feathers brownish ; primaries hair-brown : secondaries dusky 

 brown, with white margins and tips. 



Distribution. — The Little Greenshank, or " Marsh-Sandpiper/' is the most abundant of its genus in 

 Ceylon, arriving in numbers at the end of September and departing in May. Some, however, remain 

 throughout the year, not a few birds having been seen by myself in the Hambantota district and at Kanthelai 

 tank in July and August. It is found in the same localities as the last, viz. round the north coast down to 

 Chilaw on the west, and all along the eastern side of the island to Hambantota on the south, frequenting 

 salt lagoons, tidal flats, marshes near the sea, estuaries of rivers, salt-water creeks, and so forth. It is no 

 doubt a frequenter of the Negombo Lake, and may be found as a straggler further down the west coast. 

 Mr. Holdsworth remarks that it is very abundant at Aripu; and I noticed it there in creeks, and found it common 

 at Manaar; but, on the whole, I did not remark that it was quite as numerous on the west coast as on the 

 east. The great chain of salt lagoons between Mullaittivu and the Virgel, as also the Batticaloa Lake and the 

 leways on the south-east, are frequented by numbers of this species. It ascends the Mahawelliganga for 

 some distance, and is found, as I have remarked, as far inland as Kanthelai. It may possibly occur at Minery 

 and at the Anaradhapura tanks. 



Though possessing a very wide range, it is not spread over as much territory as the last species, not being 

 found in America, and having in Europe neither a westerly nor a very northerly habitat ; and, notwithstanding 

 that it seems almost entirely to avoid Spain and Portugal, it is said to be common on the West-African coast. 



It is common here and there throughout the Indian empire ; but is not at all evenly distributed, being 

 common in many localities, and curiously absent from intervening places. Jerdon says of it that it is less 

 generally spread than perhaps any of the preceding species ; he saw it in large flocks on the Trichoor lake in 

 South Malabar, and he obtained it occasionally in various parts of the country. In the Deccan it is said to 

 be common ; and at Ahmednagar, in the Khandala district, the Rev. Dr. Fairbank obtained it. It is not 

 recorded by Mr. Ball from any part of the district he examined ; and from Mr. Cripps's Furreedpore list it is 

 absent. It is found about Calcutta, but is not so numerous as the preceding species. In the north-west it is 

 not very common ; at Sambhur Mr. Adam only once met with it ; and in Guzerat Captain Butler says it only 

 occurs sparingly throughout the tank country, remaining till the end of May. Mr. Hume adds that it is not 

 uncommon in suitable localities in Jodhpur, but that he had not received it or heard of it from Sindh, Cutch, 

 or Kattiawar. It is evidently a bird which prefers a more southerly winter habitat along the meridian of its 

 migration; and it therefore passes over India, pushing on to Ceylon, where it is stopped by the Indian Ocean, 

 and consequently lodges in great numbers in that island. 



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