396 CHAEADEIID^ TOTANUS 



Description. Adult in iion-breeding dress.— Above, mclnding the 

 crown and hind neck very dark brown, slightly spotted with white, 

 chiefly on the outer webs of the feathers ; wing-coverts and pri- 

 maries nearly uniform brown, the secondaries slightly margined 

 and mottled on the inner web with white ; rump like the back ; 

 upper tail-coverts white with a few blackish markings ; central tail- 

 feathers dark brown strongly notched with white, the white increas- 

 ing towards the outer feathers which have a few brown spots on the 

 outer web only ; a distinct white eyebrow reaching to about the ear- 

 coverts ; sides of the face and neck, foreneck, chest and flanks 

 whitish, profusely mottled and streaked with brown, throat and rest 

 of the under surface white; axillaries white with a few marks of 

 brown, under wing-coverts mottled brown and white. 



Iris dark brown ; bill dusky-greenish at the base ; legs pale 

 yellowish-green. 



Length (in the flesh) 8-0; wing 4-7; tail 1-9; culmen 1-15; 

 tarsus 1-4. 



In breeding plumage the markings both above and below are 

 more strongly deiined, the head and neck above and the breast 

 below are broadly streaked with blackish-brown. 



Distribution. — The Wood Sandpiper, though rare in England, 

 breeds commonly on the continent from Holland to Kamschatka, 

 while during the northern winter it migrates south to the Mediterra- 

 nean basin, Africa, South Asia, Malaysia and Australia. It is 

 found all over Africa during the winter months (October to March) 

 and is fairly abundant throughout South Africa where suitable 

 conditions exist. 



The following are localities : Cape Colony — Cape division, 

 December, March, Port Ehzabeth, February, Peddie, November, 

 Port St. John's, November, Orange Eiver near Upington, Septem- 

 ber (S. A. Mus.), Zoetendals Vley in Bredasdorp, November 

 (Layard), Oudtshoorn, December (Victorin), Hanover, September 

 (S. A. Mus.), Spaldings, January (Ayres) ; Natal — near Durban 

 (Shelley), Maritzburg, December, Newcastle, September, October, 

 December (Eeid) ; Orange Eiver Colony — Bloemfontein (Brit. Mus.) ; 

 Transvaal— Potchefstroom, August to March (Ayres) ; Ehodesia— 

 Inyati, September (Oates), Tati, January (S. A. Mus.), Livingstone 

 on the Zambesi, September (S. A. Mus.) ; German South-west 

 Africa— Otjimbinque, December and Ondonga (Andersson), near 

 Barmen, January (Fleck) ; Portuguese East Africa— Zambesi Eiver, 

 August, November (Alexander). 



