Genus TOTANUS or HARD-BILLED SANDPIPERS. 



Type TOTANUS CALIDRIS. 



Totanus of Bechstein (1803). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus are characterised by having the frontal feathers 

 extending beyond the line of the gape, and the bill so nearly 

 straight that it is practically on the same plane as the gape. The 

 wings are long and pointed, the first quill the longest ; tail variable 

 in shape and in number of rectrices, even in closely allied species. 

 The tarsus is (with the exception of one species, T. incanus) 

 scutellated anteriorly and posteriorly; the tibia above the tarsal 

 joint devoid of feathers. The bill is moderately long and nearly 

 straight, hard at the point; nostrils lateral, linear. Toes three 

 in front, one behind small and elevated. 



This genus is composed of nineteen species and subspecies 

 distributed over the Arctic, Palaearctic, and Nearctic regions; 

 cosmopolitan in winter. Eleven species are British ; some 

 accidental wanderers, some residents, some winter visitors. 



The Hard-billed Sandpipers are dwellers on moors, tundras, 

 and marshes in summer, sea coasts in winter. They are birds of 

 powerful, well-sustained flight and perform enormous migrations. 

 On the ground they run and walk with ease, and frequently wade. 

 Their notes are shrill and some not unmusical. They subsist on 

 insects, mollusks, fruit, etc. They make scanty nests, generally 

 placed on the ground, and their pyriform eggs are four in number 

 and spotted. They are with one exception monogamous. More 

 or less gregarious and social, especially during winter. 



