THE GREY-RUMPED SANDPIPER. 635 



Measurements and structure. — $ wing 132-139 mm., tail 53-58, 

 tarsus 47-52, bill from feathers 37-40 (12 measured). $ wing 

 133.5-143, bill 40-45. Primaries: 1st minute, 2nd longest, 3rd 

 a,bout equal or 2-5 mm. shorter, 4th 6-10 shorter, 5th 14-18 shorter, 

 6th 22-28 shorter. Longest inner secondary between 4th and 6th 

 primaries. Tail slightly rounded, central pair longest. Bill moder- 

 ately long, straight and slender ; groove in upper mandible about 

 one -third length of culmen. Other structure as in T. flavipes. 



Soft parts. — Bill dark brown, green at base ; legs and feet 

 dusky-olive ; iris dark brown. 



Characters. — No subspecies recognized. More slender bill, white 

 back and rump and more or less white upper tail-coverts, distin- 

 guish Marsh-Sandpiper from its near allies other than Greenshank. 



Breeding-habits. — Breeds on dry grassy flats near marshes or 

 lakes. Nest. — Depression in ground among grass, lined with dry 

 bents. Eggs. — Normally 4, quite exceptionally 5, pyriform, creamy- 

 buff or stone-colour in ground-colour, blotched and spotted with 

 dark purplish -brown and ashy-grey, sometimes sparingly and some- 

 times freely. Average of 34 eggs, 38.5x27. Max. : 41x26 and 

 •40.6x28.3. Min. : 35.2x26.5 and 38.5x25.7 mm. Breeding- 

 season. — From May 3 to end month in Hungary. Incubation. — 

 Male and female have been shot from eggs. Period not known. 

 Single brooded. 



Food. — Very little definitely recorded. Chiefly aquatic insects and 

 larvse (water -beetles and diptera). Also small freshwater univalve 

 mollusca. 



Distribution. — England. — Six. One Tring (Herts.), Oct., 1887 

 (cf. Vict. Hist. Bucks., I, p. 150 ; Brit. B., in, p. 365 (footnote) and 

 Baunders, p. 620). Pair Bye Harbour (Sussex), female June 16 and 

 male June 18, 1909 (M. J. Nicoll, Brit. B., in, p. 356). Female 

 Bodiam Marsh (Sussex), July 1, 1910 (J. B. Nichols, op.c, v, 

 p. 49). Pair Pvomney Marsh (Kent) May 24, 1915 (H. W. Ford-Lind- 

 say, op.c, ix, p. 69). 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Breeds in Siberia and Turkestan, 

 throughout south Russia and south-east Europe in suitable localities, 

 and possibly in south France. Migrates to Africa, India, Indo- 

 Chinese countries, and eastern Archipelago south to Australia. 

 Casual north as far as E. Prussia and Heligoland. 



TRINGA INCANA 



.417. Tringa incana brevipes (Vieill.) — THE GREY-RUMPED 

 SANDPIPER. 



Totanus brevipes Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., vi., p. 410 (1816 — 

 " Locality unknown." Type collected in Timor by Mauge, according to 

 Pucheran, Rev. & Mag. Zool., 1851, p. 570). 

 Tringa incana brevipes, H. W. Ford-Lindsay, Brit. B., ix., p. 205. 



Description. — Adult male and female. Winter. — Feathers at base 

 of upper mandible white ; upper -parts dark ash-grey, feathers 



