GREEN SANDPIPER. 



Totanus ochropus, Temm. 

 Le Chevalier Cul blanc. 



Although we believe that this delicate species frequently passes the summer in Wales and other mountainous 

 districts of Great Britain, and consequently breeds there, we are not in possession of sufficient facts to war- 

 rant us in stating positively that such is the case. We are strengthened in this opinion, however, by the 

 circumstance of Mr. Doubleday, an accurate observer of nature, having informed us that he has observed 

 it flying over the smaller streams in the neighbourhood of Snowdon in the middle of summer. It generally 

 arrives in Britain at the latter end of September, when it disperses either singly or in pairs over nearly 

 every part of our island, more particularly its interior portions, but always in very small numbers. It is most 

 frequently met with during its autumnal and spring migrations, and appears to give preference to the edges 

 of small ponds, rivulets, and ditches, particularly those which ai*e secluded : its habits in this respect differ 

 very considerably from those of most of the other members of its family, which resort to the sea-beach and 

 the sides and mouths of large rivers as favourite places of abode. 



The snow-white rump of the Green Sandpiper renders it a conspicuous object when flushed, at which time 

 it utters a shrill whistling note, from which circumstance it is known to many persons, particularly sportsmen, 

 by the name of the Whistling Snipe : it runs with great activity, but generally flies low, skimming over the 

 surface of the water, and following the bends and angles of the stream. It possesses an extensive range of 

 habitat, being dispersed over the whole of Europe, the greater part of Asia, and Africa ; but it is not found 

 in America, as most naturalists have asserted it to be, its pjace there being supplied by a nearly allied but 

 totally distinct species. It differs from the Wood Sandpiper in its larger size, its shorter tarsi, and in the 

 more diminutive spotting of the upper surface. 



According to M. Temminck, the nest is made by the side of a stream, and the eggs are greenish white 

 blotched with brown. 



The sexes are so nearly alike in size and colour that a description of both is quite unnecessary. 



The top of the head, back of the neck, and upper surface olive brown ; the back, the scapularies, and most 

 of the wing-feathers marked at their edges with minute spots of yellowish white ; quills dark brown ; sides of 

 the chest and flanks longitudinally streaked and spotted with brown ; rump, under surface, and tail white, the 

 latter having the four central feathers strongly barred with black ; feet and legs olive ; bill black with a tinge 

 of olive ; irides dark brown. 



WOOD SANDPIPER. 



Totanus Glared a, Temm. 

 Le Chevalier sylvain. 



This species has been so frequently confounded with the preceding, that we are induced to figure both on the 

 same Plate, in order to enable our readers more readily to distinguish their differential characters. There is 

 no difference in the colouring of the sexes of either species, and as their plumage is not influenced by the sea- 

 sons or other causes, we trust our Plate will illustrate every feature necessary to render their distinctness 

 sufficiently apparent. 



The Wood Sandpiper is still more rarely seen in the British Islands than its near ally, but in every other 

 particular the history of the preceding species is applicable to the present ; it is, however, even more widely 

 dispersed, as is proved by its being found not only over the whole of the Asiatic continent, but in most of the 

 islands of the Pacific Ocean also, which we believe is not the case with the Green Sandpiper. 



A streak of brown passes between the bill and the eyes ; crown of the head and sides of the neck brown, 

 streaked with a darker tint ; whole of the breast and scapularies dark brown, the edge of each feather being 

 spotted with greyish white ; lower part of the rump and the tail white, the latter numerously barred with 

 brown; legs and feet dark olive; bill black; irides dark brown. 



We have figured each species of the natural size. 



