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GENUS TEREK I A (Bonaparte). 



THIS is a unique genus containing only one species, and characterised by the upward curvature of the 

 bill, which is unlike any other Sandpiper's. 



TEREKIA CINEREA (Gould). 



TEREK SANDPIPER. Genus : Terekia. 



IN Australia this little bird seems to be confined to the central part of the eastern seaboard, but in 

 other parts of the world it is very generally distributed. It is common in Java and Sumatra, and 

 penetrates to India, China, Europe, and probably North Africa. In Europe Temminck is of opinion that 

 its appearance is accidental ; that its true homes are Russia, Siberia, the borders of the Caspian Sea, Japan, 

 Sumatra, and Borneo ; that specimens from the last named island are identical with those captured in 

 Normandy and in the suburbs of Paris. Its natural instincts lead it to the borders of rivers. It has a 

 sonorous voice, and feeds on worms, insects, and small shellfish. According to Pallas the nests are made 

 of plants, which is a departure from the common custom among Sandpipers, who are content to deposit 

 their eggs in a sheltered depression in the ground. (Gould.) 



" This neat plumaged little Sandpiper," says Mr. Jerdon, " is not very abundant in the south of 

 India, but is met with more frequently towards the north. It frequents the shores of seas, back-waters, 

 tanks, and rivers in small flocks. In summer plumage its scapulars become black, edged with brown. It 

 breeds in Northern Asia, laying four pale olive-yellow eggs, with brown spots. It is extensively distributed 

 over Europe and Asia to Australia." — " Birds of India," Vol. II., Part II., p. 683. 



The name Terek has been adopted from the fact that it is numerous during summer about the 

 Caspian Sea, and especially about the mouth of the Terek River, where it breeds. It is also to be met 

 with in flocks in the marshes about the borders of the salt lakes of that region, 



The egg is pear-shaped, ground colour of a stony-grey, with a perceptible greenish tinge, blotched, 

 spotted, and streaked all over with rich umber or reddish-brown, some lighter markings appearing under 

 the surface of the shell. The egg is not unlike that of the Marsh Sandpiper, only the markings are more 

 numerous and smaller. Length, 1 inch of lines; breadth, 12^ lines. 



Head, all the upper surfaces, wings, and tail, pale brown, with a fine line of a darker tint down 

 the centre of each feather ; shoulders and primaries, dark brown, with the shaft of the first quill white ; 

 secondaries, white ; base of the bill, orange-brown, passing into blackish-brown at the tip ; irides, black ; 

 legs, brownish-orange, the brown tint predominating on the joints. (Goidd.) 



Habitats : Wide Bay District, New South Wales. (Ramsay.) 



GENUS ACTITIS (Illiger). 



THIS is a restricted genus, containing at present only two species, one of which inhabits Australia and 

 is common to the Old World ; the other is in America. 



