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Genus ACTITURUS. 



Tringa apud Bechstein in Lath. Allg. Uebers. iv. pt. 2, p. 453 (1812). 



Totanus apud Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. vi. p. 401 (1816). 



Bartramia apud Lesson, Traite d'Orn. p. 553 (1831). 



Actidurus, Bonaparte, Sagg. Distrib. Metod., Agg. e Correz. p. 143 (1832). 



Euliga apud Nuttall, Man. Orn. U. S. ii. p. 167 (1834). 



Actitis apud J. F. Naumann, Naturg. Vog. Deutschl. viii. p. 43 (1836). 



Actiturus, Keyserling & Blasius, Wirbelth. Eur. p. 73 (1840, ex Bp.). 



Tringoides apud G. E. Gray, Gen. of B. iii. p. 574 (1846). 



But a single species belongs to the genus Actiturus, which is essentially an American one. The 

 birds of this species, A. longicaudus, inhabit the Nearctic and Neotropical Regions, rarely 

 straggling to the Western Palsearctic Region ; and some have even been recorded from the 

 Australian Region. They are essentially upland birds, frequenting grassy prairies, not being 

 met with on the sea-coast. They run about amongst the grass with ease and swiftness, and at 

 the approach of danger squat for a time until the intruder comes near, and then take wing, 

 flying tolerably swiftly, though their flight is direct, and they are not difficult to shoot. Their 

 note is a mellow whistle, usually uttered when the bird is on the wing. They are companionable, 

 though seldom found in flocks, but scattered singly about the prairies. They feed on insects of 

 various kinds, chiefly grasshoppers and coleoptera, and are said sometimes to eat berries. They 

 nest on the ground, placing their four eggs in a small depression scantily lined with a few 

 grass-bents or leaves. The eggs are pale drab, spotted and blotched with purplish grey and pale 

 greyish purple. 



In the article on this species I used the generic title Actiturus ; but I have since ascertained 

 that Bartramia should be used. This bird should therefore stand as Bartramia longicauda. 



Bartramia longicauda has the bill nearly as long as the head, moderately slender, straight, 

 the nasal groove extending nearly to the tip of the bill, which is narrowed but obtuse ; nostrils 

 linear, basal, moderately large ; wings long, pointed, the first quill longest, the inner secondaries 

 rather elongated ; tail rather long, rounded ; legs long, rather slender, the tibia bare for a con- 

 siderable distance ; tarsus scutellate, long, slender ; hind toe moderately large, anterior toes 

 long, slender, scutellate above, and marginate ; claws small, compressed, curved, obtuse, that on 

 the middle toe slightly dilated on the inner edge. 



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