230 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



creamy-white, pale buff, or very pale olive in ground-colour, boldly blotched and 

 spotted vs^ith rich reddish-brovFn, and with a few underlying markings of pale 

 brown. They measure on an average 1'45 inch in length by I'O inch in breadth. 

 The bird sits closely, usually remaining on its eggs until the last moment. One 

 brood only is reared in the year, and both parents tend the chicks with equal 

 solicitude. 



Diagnostic characters.— Totanus, with the lower back nearly the same 

 colour as the mantle, and the prevailing colour of the upper tail coverts, axillaries, 

 and under wing coverts, white. Length of wing, 4'5 to 5'1 inches. Length, 

 8J inches. 



