LONG-TAILED SANDPIPER. 
Actiturus longicaudatus Gundlaoh, Journ. fiir Ornith. 1881, p. 401. 
Totanus hartrami, Seebohm, Hist. Brit. Birds, Vol. III., p. 110, 1886; id., Geogr. Distr. 
Charadr., p. 376, 1887. 
Disteibution. North and South America (Europe and AustraHa accidental). 
Adult male. General colour above black, the feathers everywhere margined with sandy- 
rufous and white ; head black with sandy- rufous edges to the feathers ; hind-neck 
rufous with dark brown centres to the feathers, giving a streaked appearance ; 
mantle and back black, the feathers edged with rufous ; lower-back, middle upper 
tail-coverts and rump uniform black, the lateral upper tail-coverts barred with 
buff and black ; lesser wing-coverts dark brown fringed with sandy-rufous ; greater- 
coverts olive-brown barred with darker brown, fringed on the sides with sandy- 
rufous and tipped with white ; bastard-wing blackish, tipped with white ; primary- 
coverts black with pale edges to some of the inner ones ; primary-quills dark brown 
on the outer webs, the inner webs barred with white ; first primary mottled and 
barred with brown and white, shaft also white ; inner primaries barred with pale 
and dark brown, fringed and tipped with white, the secondaries similarly coloured ; 
the long innermost secondaries hke the back ; middle tail-feathers greyish-brown 
tinged with rufous and barred with black, becoming rufous on the outer feathers 
which are also barred with black and broadly tipped with white ; throat white ; 
sides of face, lower-throat, and upper-breast sandy-buff, with narrow brown streaks ; 
abdomen and under tail-coverts buffy-white ; sides of body sandy-rufous barred 
with brown ; axillaries and under wing-coverts white barred with dark brown ; 
bill greenish-yellow, culmen and tip dark brown ; iris hazel ; tarsi and feet 
yellowish-green. Total length 288 mm. ; culmen 29, wing 165, tail 82, tarsus 47. 
Adult female. Similar to the adult male. 
Young. “ Similar to the adult, but the buff of the head, jugulum, wings, etc., much deeper, 
the streaks on the fore-neck and jugulum much less distinct, and the back plain 
black, the feathers bordered Avith buff ” (Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway). 
Nestling, in down. Upper-surface black, rufous, and white ; lores, sides of the face, collar 
on the hind-neck, and the entire under-parts white, with a tinge of pale buff on 
the abdomen ; lower-fianks, thighs, and under tail-coverts marked with rufous 
and black. 
Nest. “ A rather deep depression in the ground, sparingly lined vdth fine weed stems, 
grasses and a few bits of manure, and one or two small feathers ” (Rockwell). 
Eggs. Clutch, four ; ground-colour light stone, sparingly marked aU over, but more at 
the larger end, with spots of dark chestnut to yellowish-brown, and underlying ones 
of lavender ; axis 41.5 to 43 mm., diameter 32 to 3.25. 
Breeding-season. June (Coues). 
Gotjld first added this bird to the Australian List in 1865, in his Handbook, 
p. 242, where he says : “ I am indebted to the Directors of the Museum at 
Sydney for the loan of a very fine example of this species, which they kindly 
permitted to be sent to England for my inspection. It was shot by an old 
sportsman during the Snipe season of 1848, near the water-reservoir, in the 
vicinity of Sydney.” 
In 1888, Ramsay, in his Tabular List, p. 20, gave Queensland, New South 
Wales, and the Interior, as its Australian range. 
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