151 



TOTANUS STAGNATILIS. 



(MARSH SANDPIPER.) 



Totanus stagnatilis, Bechst. Orn. Taschenb. p. 292 (1802). 

 Trynga guinetta, Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat. ii. p. 195 (1811). 

 Totanus tenuirostris, Horsf. Trans. Linn. Soc. xiii. p. 192 (1822). 



Piro-Piro gambe lunghe, Italian ; Chevalier stagnatile, French ; Teich- Wasserlaufer, German ; 

 Caballero chorlito, Spanish ; Ceu-ceua sekonda, Maltese. 



T. grisescenti-brunneus, plumis dorsalibus ad basin nigris : subtus albus, genis et pectore superiore brunneo 

 longitudinaliter striato : fronte albescente. 



Adult Male, in summer plumage. Above greyish brown, very slightly tinged with buff, with black mottlings 

 and streaks distributed everywhere, except on the wing-coverts, which are almost devoid of these 

 mottlings, some of the greater coverts externally edged and tipped with white; quills dark brown, 

 secondaries rather paler, externally edged with white, the innermost and longest barred exactly in the 

 same way as the scapulars : lower part of the back and rump pure white ; upper tail-coverts very long, 

 white, spotted and barred with blackish brown; centre tail-feathers greyish brown with dark cross- 

 barrings, all the other tail-feathers for the most part white, the outermost almost entirely so with the 

 exception of a slight edging on the outer web ; the other feathers becoming more and more marked 

 with brown as they approach the centre of the tail ; cheeks, ear-coverts, and upper part of the breast 

 white, each feather with a dark broad mark down the centre, producing a minutely spotted appearance ; 

 throat and the rest of the under surface of the body pure white ; axillary plumes white. Total length 

 9 - inches, culmen \ - 7, wing 5'3, tail 2 - 5, tarsus 2 - 0. 



Winter plumage. Grey on the upper surface, somewhat specked with white, especially on the wing-coverts, 

 which are for the most part dark blackish grey ; under surface pure white. 



The "Marsh Sandpiper," or, as Dr. Jerdon very aptly calls it, the "Little Greenshanks," is only 

 a summer visitant to Europe, and, excepting in the eastern and south-eastern portions, is only a 

 straggler. In the British Islands it has not yet occurred ; nor, as far as we can learn, has it 

 been met with in any part of Scandinavia. Degland and Gerbe say it is occasionally found 

 during migration in the north and some other parts of France, having been killed at Dunquerque, 

 St. Omer, Abbeville, in the Department of the Aube, and in the south of France. Jaubert and 

 Lapommeraye state that it is found in the last-named locality in small numbers, more generally in 

 spring than autumn, and has been met with several times in the marshes of Hyeres and Frejus in 

 the early part of June. M. Besson, of Hyeres, believes that it breeds near that town. In the 

 Camargue, according to Baron J. W. von Miiller, it occurs rarely, and is said in exceptional cases 

 to nest there ; he procured a few late in April. Bailly says that in Savoy it is the rarest 

 Sandpiper, only appearing at distant intervals. Count Salvadori has written us a note to the 

 effect that it is "a rare bird in Italy, and he has only met with it near Pisa. Its passage is of 



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