Family CHARADRIID.E. Genus Totanus. 



Subfamily Totaninjz. 



GREEN SANDPIPER. 



TOTANUS OCHROPUS— (Z/«;2««.f). 



Geographical Distribution. — British .• Occurs not unfre- 

 quently on spring and autumn migration, a few remaining over 

 the summer, and a few lagging behind the rest in winter. 

 Becomes rarer in the northern and western parts of Scotland, and 

 in the west of Ireland it is even rarer still. Not yet recorded 

 from the Hebrides or from the Orkneys and Shetlands. May 

 possibly breed in Norfolk, Yorkshire, Sussex, and elsewhere, but 

 hitherto it has not absolutely been detected. On the other hand, 

 the birds lingering behind in spring may be immature and non- 

 breeding. Foreign : Patearctic region ; Ethiopian and Oriental 

 regions in winter. Breeds in the forest swamps from about the 

 latitude of the Arctic Circle from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 

 Passes Central Europe on migration, but numbers find a suitable 

 climate at high elevations in which to breed, on the Pyrenees, the 

 Alps, the Carpathians, and the Caucasus. Eastwards its southern 

 breeding range is Turkestan, and the South Siberian mountains. 

 The European birds winter in the basin of the Mediterranean, 

 and in Africa as far south as the Cape Colony ; whilst those 

 breeding in Northern Asia pass that season in Persia, India, 

 Ceylon, Burma, China, and Japan. 



Allied Forms. — Totanus solifariiis, the American repre- 

 sentative of the Green Sandpiper, which as it has occurred in the 

 British Islands will be dealt with fully in the following chapter. 



Time during which the Green Sandpiper may be 

 taken. — August ist to March ist. 



