Genus TOTANUS, Bechst 



Gen. Char. Bill long, rounded, solid, hard, and drawn to a point; in some species slightly 

 incurved; upper mandible sulcated, the furrow generally about half the length of the bill; 

 the tip arched and curving over that of the lower one ; tomia of both mandibles bending 

 inwards progressively to the point. Nostrils basal, lateral, linear, longitudinally cleft in 

 the furrow of the mandible. Legs long, slender, naked above the tarsal joint. Toes three 

 before, and one behind; the front ones united at their base by a membrane; that 

 connecting the outer with the middle one always the largest ; hind toe short, and barely 

 touching the ground with its tip, or nail ; fronts of the tarsi and toes scutellated. 



COMMON SANDPIPER. 



Totanus Hypoleucos, Temm. 

 Le Chevalier Guinette. 



Those who have had opportunities of observing- this little emigrant in a state of nature must, we think, 

 have been gratified with its tame and inoffensive disposition, and we should suppose would be desirous of 

 knowing more of its history. Unlike many others of its tribe, which are capable of braving with impunity 

 the severities of our hardest winters, the present delicate little bird appears to be adapted to climates of a 

 milder kind, and to inhabit peculiar localities. Arriving here about the end of April, it retreats to inland 

 lakes, rivers, and small brooks, the banks of which it enlivens during the whole of the summer with its active 

 and sprightly habits and simple note. The task of incubation is commenced soon after its arrival, the female 

 depositing her four delicate eggs, of a pale reddish white ground spotted with darker red, on the bank near the 

 water's edge, a mere hollow in the soil or depression in the shingle serving instead of a nest ; sometimes, how- 

 ever, it is lined with dried grass, leaves, &c. It is to be feared that the timid disposition of this bird militates 

 much against its security, and that a great portion of those which resort to our navigable rivers and canals 

 fall a sacrifice to the gun, or are otherwise so much disturbed as to prevent their accomplishing this task, for 

 which alone they have been impelled hither; those, on the contrary, which have chosen situations of greater 

 safety and retirement have in a few weeks accomplished the process of incubation, and their half-fledged 

 young soon trip nimbly over the sand and oozy mud, and a short period longer enables them to wing their 

 way after their parents and to seek both food and safety for themselves. Unlike the Dunlin and other marine 

 species whose immense flights almost astonish us, the Common Sandpiper can scarcely be called gregarious, 

 four or six in company being of rare occurrence. Although not very numerous, it inhabits every part of 

 Europe, over which it is dispersed in pairs ; and not unfrequently a single individual is observed in solitary 

 retirement, having been bereft of its mate, or by some other circumstance left by itself. In the British Isles 

 the adults commence their autumnal migrations southwards about September, preceding the young by a few 

 weeks, which period allows the latter to gain sufficient strength to perform a fatiguing journey across the 

 Channel to seek retirement in the hotter portions of Europe ; and in all probability the northern regions of 

 Africa are not beyond the limits of their annual range. Independently of Europe and Africa, we have observed 

 skins of this species from several parts of India, which proves its range over the Old World to be widely 

 extended. Its place in America is supplied by the well-known Spotted Sandpiper Totanus macularius, 

 which occurs in Europe only as a rare visitant. 



The sexes are so strictly alike in their colouring as to render a separate description quite unnecessary. 

 The young of the year have the edges of the feathers fringed with a margin of greyish white ; in other 

 respects they resemble the adults. 



The food of the Common Sandpiper consists of insects of various kinds, to which are added small shelled 

 snails, worms, Crustacea, &c, in capturing which, its motions are not less elegant than graceful, running with 

 agility over the oozy mud and sand-banks, often exhibiting a peculiar and singular jerking of the tail and a 

 nodding of the head not unlike that of the Common Water-hen and some of the terrestrial pigeons of the 

 West Indies. Its flight is somewhat slow and flapping, as if performed with considerable exertion, passing 

 so close to the surface of the water as scarcely to avoid wetting the pinions : while flying, it utters its plaintive 

 monotonous call, which is repeated at short intervals until it alights on the opposite side. 



Head and upper surface light brown, glossed with olive green ; the feathers of the back and scapulars 

 marked with transverse zigzag lines of dark brown, producing a mottled appearance ; greater wing-coverts 

 tipped with white ; the lesser coverts transversely barred with brown ; the first two quill-feathers wholly 

 brown, the remainder of the same colour with a large white spot in the centre of the inner web ; the four 

 middle feathers of the tail similar to the back ; the two next on each side tipped with white ; the outer ones 

 beino- pale brown with darker bars and a white tip ; throat white slightly speckled with pale brown ; sides of 

 the neck and breast greyish white streaked with brown ; belly white ; bill olive ; legs and toes greyish yellow. 



We have figured an adult and a young bird in autumn, of the natural size. 



