GRALLATORES. 391 



[159.] 4. Totanus calidris. (Bechstein.) The Redshank or Gambet. 



Genus, Totanus, Bechstein. 



Chevalier Gambette {Totanus calidris). Tejim., ii., p. 643. 



A specimen of this bird, from Hudson's Bay, exists in the British Museum*. 



DESCRIPTION. 



Colour. — Top of the head, top and sides of the neck, fore part of the back, sides of the 

 breast, the wing coverts, and tertiaries, dark hair-brown, the shafts blackish. Posterior part 

 of the back, the rump, tail coverts, tail, secondaries, and the under plumage, white. The upper 

 tail coverts, tail, and greater wing coverts, barred with blackish-brown ; bases of the second- 

 aries mottled with the same ; and the shafts of the neck, breast, and flanks, also dark. 

 Greater quills pitch-black ; shaft of the first one white, and the ends of some of the posterior 

 ones mottled with white. 



Form. — Bill straight ; nasal grooves exactly half its length. Wings rather shorter than 

 the rounded tail. Thighs naked for an inch. A short web between the inner and middle 

 toes. Outer web rather more than a quarter of an inch deep. 









Dimensions. 













Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



Inch. 



Lin, 



Length, total 



11 







Length of bill above . 



. 1 



71 



Length of middle toe . 1 



of 



,, of tail 



. 3 



3 



„ of bill to rictus . 



1 



n 



„ of middle nail . 



If 



„ of wing . 



6 



4 



,, of tarsus 



2 







„ of hind toe and tail 



3* 



[160.] 5. Totanus Bartramius. (Temm.) Bartram's Tatler. 



Genus, Totanus, Bechst. 



" Tringa longicauda. Bechst. Voy. Nachtr." Fide Temm. 

 Bartram's Sandpiper {Tringa Bartramii). Wils., vii., p. 63, pi. 59, f. 2. 

 Chevalier a longue queue {Totanus Bartramius). Temm., ii., p. 650. 

 Totanus Bartramius. Bonap. Cat., No. 256. 



This bird was seen by us only on the plains of the Saskatchewan. It feeds 

 on coleopterous insects. 



* The " White Redshank " {Totanus candidus, Briss.), from Hudson's Bay, figured by Edwards, pi. 139, is 

 considered by him to be an albino variety of T. calidris. The dimensions of its bill and wings are, however, greater 

 than those of the latter, and do not accord with those of any of the other Totani described in this work : whilst its 

 semipalmated feet rank it with T. semipalmatus, which is a larger bird. The following is Edwards's description : 

 " The bill is above two inches long ; the wing, when closed, near seven inches. The bill is black at the point, all the 

 rest of it being orange-coloured. The plumage is all white, except a little transverse mixture of pale brown or dirty white 

 on the back, wings, and tail ; the greater quills are of a darker shade of white than the other wing feathers ; the inner 

 coverts have some faint spots ; the legs and feet are of a bright reddish-orange colour ; the legs are bare above the 

 knees ; the three forward toes seem to be all webbed together as far as the first joint." He goes on to say : " From 

 its shape, size, proportions, and its faint marks, I am confident it can be no other than our Poolsnipe or Redshank." 



