TOTANUS OCHEOPUS. 863 



Young, in down (Wermland, 3rd June, 1869). Above rufous-buff, marked on the occiput and down the back with 

 broad patches of black ; on the crown three stripes of black ; a black patch on each side of the rump, and one on 

 the wings ; tail blackish ; a black stripe through the tail and above the ears ; beneath white. 



Three weelcs old'? (Sweden). Back and wings feathered, rest downy ; head fulvous, with a broad frontal streak, widen- 

 ing on the crown of the head, and a narrow line above the eye joining the black on the occiput, and a streak 

 through the lores widening above the ears ; hind neck with a dark patch ; feathers of back and wing-coverts earth- 

 brown, with fulvous marginal spots ; quills blackish brown ; down of throat and neck greyish white ; underparts 

 feathered, white, with dark bars on sides of breast; tail-feathers blackish, with white subterminal band. 



Bill 0-84 inch at front; tarsus 1-02 ; middle toe 1-02. 



Obs. Examples with the outer tail-feathers wholly white are presumably old birds. In some specimens the terminal 

 portion of the outer tail-feathers is entirely brown, in others tipped with white and crossed by a more or less 

 complete narrow bar of the same. Dr. Scully's measurements of Kashgar examples (females) are : — Length 

 8-9 to 9-65 inches; wing 5-6 to 5-95 ; tail 2-4 to 2-6 ; tarsus 1-35 to 1-43; bill from gape 1-55 to 1-7 : weight 

 2-2 to 3"3 oz. The legs in these varied from " plumbeous " to " slaty green." Kamptee and Behar specimens 

 examined by myself vary in the wing from 5 - 4 to 5-6 inches, and measure in the bill to gape 1*45 inch. An 

 Angola specimen has the wing 5 - 6 inches and the bill to gape 1-55. 



I subjoin here a diagnosis of the characteristics of this and the last-described Sandpiper in winter plumage, for the 

 information of field-naturalists. 



Totanus glareola. Smaller : wing 4-8 to 5 - inches. Conspicuously spotted above ; longer tail-coverts barred with 

 brown ; centre tail-feathers barred with bands of brown and white of equal width ; axillaries white, distantly 

 barred with brown ; under tail-coverts with cross marks of brown. 



Totanus ochrojjus. Larger : wing 5-5 to 5 - 75 inches. Ground-colour of upper surface darker, with inconspicuous 

 marginal spots ; upper tail-coverts pure white ; centre tail-feathers black, with narrow, distant, white bars ; axil- 

 laries blacJc-brown, with narrow white bars ; under tail-coverts pure white. 



Distribution. — The Green Sandpiper is not nearly so common as the last species ; and I had been some 

 years in Ceylon before I met with it at all. Its chief haunts are the sandy beds of rivers in the Northern and 

 Eastern Provinces, on which it is found in pairs. I first procured it in the forest at the river flowing by the Rest- 

 house of Palampootaar ; and this was the only spot where I saw it in the Triucomalie district. I subsequently 

 found it tolerably numerous on other rivers in the northern half of the island, and on the Deduru oya near 

 Kurunegala it was quite common. In the Western Province the only place I identified it from its ubiquitous 

 relation (the Wood-Sandpiper) was at Boraslasgamuwa tank. It is also found, I have been told, at Kotte 

 and Ksesbawa. On the rivers of the south-east it is likewise met with. If searched for, it will be found on 

 the rocky torrents of the Central Province ; for I met with a pair on the Maha-Eliya river, on Hoiton Plains, at 

 an elevation of more than 7000 feet, it being the only bird that I saw frequenting this mountain-stream. I am 

 of opinion that the last species has been sometimes mistaken for it, as it has been said to be so common in 

 Ceylon. I killed many scores of Wood-Sandpipers before I became acquainted with the note of the present 

 bird, in the hopes of acquiring specimens of it ; and after becoming familiar with its voice I could not pass it 

 by unnoticed. I never once saw it in paddy-fields or on any salt marshes near tidal flats. 



This species has not got such a wide range in the Old World as the last, as it does not seem to extend 

 into the Philippine Islands nor the Malay Archipelago. In India it is scattered over the whole empire more 

 or less, and is, according to Jerdon, almost more common than the Wood-Sandpiper. In the Deccan it is 

 abundant in the cold season; and the Rev. Dr. Fairbank records it especially from Ahmednagar. From the 

 Rajmehal hills, Manbhuni, Lohardugga, Singhbhum, and Orissa it is noticed by Mr. Ball, and he elsewhere 

 says (Str. Feath. 1874) that it is to be found on all the rivers of this region (Chota Nagpur). Mr. Cripps 

 records it as " rather common " in Furreedpore ; and in the neighbourhood of Calcutta it is very abundant. 

 Captain Beavan procured it at Barrackpore, Julpigoorie, and Umballah, and speaks of it as being very 

 plentiful in Bengal. In the north-west it is equally well distributed. It is common throughout the Mount- 

 Aboo and Guzerat region, which includes Kutch, Sindh, and Jodhpoor. About the Sambhur Lake Mr. Adam 

 found it frequenting the edges of open wells : and in Kattiawar Major Hayes-Lloyd says it is common. It is 

 the earliest Sandpiper to arrive, writes Captain Butler, in this district, his date being the loth of July ; and 

 it does not leave until the 12th of May. Col. Irby found it remaining in Kumaon as late as July. 



