MARSH SANDP I PE R .
T o tan u s stagnatilis, Be chst.
L e C h e va lie r stagnatile.
T h is elegant species o f Sandpiper is here represented in its adult state, and in the plumage o f winter, which
differs from that o f summer only in being more generally light on the upper surface, the ash-grey being
uninterrupted with transverse bars o f black, the last remains o f which may be observed on the scapularies :
the under surface is also more purely white, with scarcely any traces o f the longitudinal black streaks which
characterize the plumage o f summer. In form and general contour, the Marsh Sandpiper approaches closely
to the Spotted Redshank ( Totanus fuscus, Leisl.), but is not much more than half its size; besides which, the
legs o f the former are o f an olive-green, while those o f the latter are red.*
The Marsh Sandpiper is not a native o f the British Islands, and it appears to be extremely rare upon the
Continent: its extent o f habitat, however, is by no means very limited, since, according to M. Temminck,
who favoured me with the examples from which the present figure was drawn, it migrates from the North of
Europe, its summer habitat, throughout the eastern provinces as far as the Mediterranean, frequenting the
borders o f large rivers, but never taking up its residence on the sea-shore.
As its name implies, it obtains its food from the marshes and humid tracts which border inland rivers and
sheets o f fresh water.
The top o f the head grey, with longitudinal spots o f black; upper surface grey, each feather having a
lighter margin ; wings blackish brown; tail white, marked with diagonal bars o f brown; the other parts and
the whole o f the under surface white; the bill and irides blackish brown; the legs bright olive-green: such
is the plumage o f the adult in winter. Its total length is about nine inches.
The young have the whole o f the upper plumage o f a brownish black, each feather bearing a yellowish
border; the scapularies barred with narrow diagonal lines o f b lack ; and the tarsi o f a greenish ash colour.
The figure is o f the natural size.