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GENUS TOT AN US (Bechstein). 



WHEN Gould wrote his " Birds of Australia," he suspected that the one species of this genus then 

 known to Australia would prove to be identical with the Totanus stagnatilis of the northern 

 hemisphere. From the fact that it is to be found in such intermediate countries as New Guinea and 

 India, we may reasonably accept his supposition as being correctly founded. Since then the species T. 

 pulverulentus has been added to the genus under the title of T. griseopygius. 



TOTANUS STAGNATILIS (Gould). 



MARSH SANDPIPER. Genus : Totanus. 



IT is always unsatisfactory to attempt to make a readable paper out of insufficient material. In this case 

 w e have sought unsuccessfully for information concerning this Sandpiper, and are obliged to fall back 

 upon Gould's own slight knowledge— a knowledge, however, sufficient to enable him to identify the Australian 

 with the European specimen, though the former is lighter in colour. This is a fact of considerable 

 importance, as from it we can assume that what is true of one is true of the other, and apply Lord Tilford's 

 "Notes on Birds observed in the Ionian Islands" to this example, making allowances for the differences 

 of seasons : — " Abundant in March, April, and the early part of May on the racecourse of Corfu. Its 

 habits closely resemble those of the Green Sandpiper (T. ochropus), but is less shy and not so clamourous. 

 I have had excellent opportunities of observing closely the habits of this and many other allied species 

 on the racecourse, having sometimes seen within a few yards of the spot where I lay hidden T. glottis, 

 kc, &c." 



The egg is pear-shaped, of a rich butty stone-colour, mediumly daubed and blotched all over 

 with rich umber or reddish-brown and dull grey ; the last colour appears under the shell's surface. 



Length, 1 inch G lines; breadth, 12^ lines. (J. A. Campbell.) 



Face, front of neck, and all under surfaces, white ; crown of head and neck grey, streaked with 

 black ; upper surface, grey ; wings, blackish-brown ; tail, white, with diagonal bars of brown ; bill, dark 

 greenish-olive, tipped with brown; legs, sickly olive-yellow; irides, blackish-brown. (Gould.) 



Habitats : Wide Bay District, New South Wales. 



TOTANUS GEISEOPYGIUS {Gould.) 



GREY-RUMPED SANDPIPER. Genus: Totanus. 



THIS little bird is recognised under such a variety of aliases that it is somewhat puzzling to determine 

 which should be its proper name. T. incanus (Gmel.), Scolopax incano, T. brevipes (VieilL), 

 Gnmbetta pulverulentus (Gould), T. griseopygius (Gould). The last name we have adopted as it prevents 

 the necessity of a new genus. 



