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| Genus TOTANUS, Bechst.
Gen. Coan. Bill lone, rounded

| g, , solid, hard, and drawn to a point; in some species slightly
incurved; upper mandible sulcated, tl :
es famiace! oct ie :
ME tet , urrow generally about half the length of the bill;
é curving over the rer : la of | |
: | a g over that of the lower one; tomia of both mandibles bending
inwards progressively to the point Jostrils basal, later i itudi i
us Pp : y point. Nostrils basal, lateral, linear, longitudinally cleft in
the furrow of th : Tey
e 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 1c oo
2 the middle one always the lar gest; hind toe short, and barely

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

COMMON SANDPIPER.

1
Totanus Hypoleucos, Temm.

Le Chevalier Guinette.

‘Tuose 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 ‘

 

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, ofa 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
Its place in America is supplied by the well-known Spotted Sandpiper Zotanus macularius,

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re
y

extended.
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.
of the year have the edges of the feathers fringed with a margin of greyish white; in other

SO)

4

i
The young
respects they resemble the adults.

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

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

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so close to the surface of the water as scarcely to avoid wetting the pinions: while flying,
call, which is repeated at short intervals until it alights on the opposite side.
light brown, glossed with olive green ; the feathers of the back and scapulars
greater wing-coverts

monotonous

Head and upper surface
zigzag lines of dark brown, producing a mottled appearance ;
arred with brown; the first two quill-feathers wholly

4

marked with transverse
tipped with white ; the lesser coverts transversely b
of the same colour with a large white spot in the centre of the inner web; the four
d with white; the outer ones

~~, (OZ

brown, the remainder coe
middle feathers of the tail similar to the back ; the two next on each side tippe
a white tip; throat white slightly speckled with pale brown ; sides of
bill olive ; legs and toes greyish yellow.

~TS

being pale brown with darker bars and
the neck and breast greyish white streaked with brown; belly white ;

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

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