Part 48

Scolopax limosa Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 147. Limosa limosa Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 381; Hand-List (1899), 1, 159; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 40; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 25. Limosa belgica Blanford, Fauna Brit. Ind. Bds. (1898), 4, 254, fig. 59 (head).

Luzon (Celestino); Negros (Everett, Steere Exp.); Samar (Whitehead). Central and northern Europe to valley of Ob River; in winter Mediterranean countries and northeastern Africa.

"Adult male in winter plumage.--Above ashy brown, with slightly paler edges to the feathers; lower back and rump blackish brown; upper tail-coverts white, long ones tipped with black; lesser wing-coverts darker brown than back; median coverts dusky brown, lighter brown externally and fringed with white, forming a wing-band; alula blackish; primary-coverts blackish, the inner ones broadly tipped with white; primaries blackish, with white shafts, the greater part of the inner webs white, and then subterminally brown, the white extending to the base of the outer web on all but the first primary and increasing in extent on the inner primaries and secondaries, the latter being white with broad, blackish tips, which gradually diminish in size on the inner secondaries; the innermost secondaries brown like the back; tail white at the base, with a broad, black, terminal band, gradually decreasing in size toward the outer feathers, which are edged with white at the tip, the center feathers brownish at the tip; head ashy brown, the forehead more hoary; an indistinct whitish eyebrow extending from the base of the nostril to behind the eye; lores dusky gray; below the eye a whitish spot; sides of face, sides of neck, throat, and chest light ashy brown, a little darker on the sides of the body; fore part of cheeks and upper throat white, as well as the whole of the center of the breast, abdomen, under tail-coverts, under wing-coverts, and axillars; edge of wing mottled with dark brown bases to the feathers; quill-lining white. 'Bill pale fleshy, blackish brown at the tip; feet olivaceous-green, toes blackish brown; iris brown.' (Hume.) Length, 417; culmen, 112; wing, 223; tail, 76; tarsus, 81.

"Adult female in winter plumage.--Similar to the male in color, but rather larger. 'Bill livid pink, blackish horny at the tip; feet blackish plumbeous, toes brownish; iris brown.' (Hume.) Length, 444; culmen, 127; wing, 216; tail, 76; tarsus, 85.

"Adult male in summer plumage.--Differs in having the back more or less mottled with rufous and black, crown rufous with short, broad streaks of black, sides of face and entire neck all round rufous, fore neck and breast overshaded with rufous and barred with dusky blackish, these bars also developed on abdomen and on the sides of body.

"Adult female in summer plumage.--Similar to the male, but with less rufous, and distinguished by the larger size.

"Young.--Distinguished from the adults by being darker brown above, with broad, sandy-rufous edges to the feathers of the upper surface, the innermost secondaries banded with blackish brown and sandy rufous; the head rufous, streaked with dark brown, but indistinctly; sides of face buffy white, with very fine streaks of brown; throat white; lower throat, sides of neck, and chest reddish buff, slightly mottled with dusky bases to the feathers of the side of breast; remainder of under surface white, suffused with rufescent buff, and shaded with ashy brown on the sides of the body.

"It is evident from the molting specimens in the collection that the black markings are acquired first, and that the rufous-color overspreads the plumage afterwards. Great variation in the amount of the nuptial decoration is seen in the series, and sometimes very old individuals have the abdomen, and even the under tail-coverts, barred." (Sharpe.)

The black-tailed godwit is extremely rare in the Philippines, the only specimens examined by me being two killed near Manila, in February, 1908.

Genus TOTANUS Bechstein, 1803.

Culmen straight, equal to tarsus; secondaries and rump white.

105. TOTANUS EURHINUS (Oberholser).

ASIATIC REDSHANK.

Totanus calidris Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 414 (part); Hand-List (1899), 1, 160 (part); Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 43 (part). Totanus totanus eurhinus Oberholser, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. (1900), 22, 207. Totanus eurhinus McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 25.

Bantayan (McGregor); Basilan (McGregor); Bohol (Everett, McGregor); Cebu (Bourns & Worcester, McGregor); Cuyo (McGregor); Mindanao (Mearns); Mindoro (Porter); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan (Platen, Whitehead); Siquijor (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester). Central and eastern Asia, south in winter to Malay Archipelago.

"Male.--Above rufescent broccoli-brown, the feathers everywhere with dark brown centers, the back more or less irregularly barred with the same; rump pure white, sparingly marked with brownish; tail and upper tail-coverts dull white, heavily barred with sepia-brown, the terminal portion of central tail-feathers buffy; wings fuscous, the innermost secondaries like the back and barred on exposed portions with dark brown; remainder of secondaries white, but pale brown on concealed bases; greater coverts white or grayish distally, brownish gray basally, and barred with sepia; median coverts brownish gray, barred with sepia; lesser coverts almost plain; lower surface white, more or less heavily marked throughout with sepia, these markings taking on throat and breast the form of broad streaks, on flanks, sides, and crissum of bars, and elsewhere of more or less irregular spots; lining of wing white, varied with brownish, except on axillars. 'Length of male, 292; of female, 298; bill black, orange-brown at base beneath; iris dark brown; feet orange-red; claws black.' (Abbott.)

"The form of Totanus totanus inhabiting Central and Eastern Asia, although seemingly identical with the European bird in color and markings, is yet so much larger, particularly in length of wing, tail, and culmen, that its separation as a subspecies appears to be warranted." (Oberholser.)

Taking the measurements of three males and two females from Central Asia as recorded by Oberholser gives the following average measurements: Wing, 163; tail, 66.8; exposed culmen, 46.6; tarsus, 47.2; middle toe, 30.2.

A male from Cuyo measures: Wing, 159; tail, 61; exposed culmen, 46; tarsus, 49; middle toe with claw, 34. A female from Cuyo, wing, 151; tail, 59; exposed culmen, 43; tarsus, 47; middle toe with claw, 35.

I refer Philippine specimens of the redshank to the Asiatic subspecies as being the one more likely to occur here if two races of Totanus totanus be recognized.

Genus HELODROMAS Kaup, 1829.

Bill straight, equal to tarsus, greater than middle toe with claw; rump and tail-coverts white.

106. HELODROMAS OCHROPUS (Linnæus).

GREEN SANDPIPER.

Tringa ocrophus Linnæus, Syst. Nat. ed. 10 (1758), 1, 149. Helodromas ochropus Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 437; Hand-List (1899), 1, 160; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 44; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 25.

Bohol (McGregor); Luzon (Everett, Steere, Whitehead); Negros (Whitehead); Samar (Steere). Africa, Europe, and northern Asia; in winter to Indian Peninsula and Malay Archipelago.

"Adult male in winter plumage.--Above uniform olive-brown with a slight gloss of bronzy olive; scapulars and wing-coverts like back, but having a few tiny white spots on the margins; lower back and rump darker, blackish brown with white edges to the feathers; upper tail-coverts pure white; lesser wing-coverts, outer median, and outer greater coverts uniform olive-brown; alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown, secondaries like the back and freckled with tiny white spots on the edges; tail-feathers white, the center ones with three black bars on the terminal half, these bars disappearing gradually on the lateral feathers, outer ones being entirely white; crown, hind neck, and mantle uniform ashy brown; a supra-loral streak of white; lores dusky, surmounted by an indistinct, white eyebrow, lined with blackish streaks; sides of face, ear-coverts, and cheeks white, rather broadly streaked with blackish brown; throat white, streaked with brown on the sides; lower throat, sides of neck, and fore neck also distinctly streaked with brown; remainder of under surface pure white; sides of upper breast brown, slightly mottled with white; under wing-coverts and axillars blackish, barred very plainly with white; lower primary-coverts and inner lining of quills uniform, with white dots along the inner edge of the secondaries. 'Bill dusky above, reddish beneath; feet grayish blue, tinged with green; iris dusky.' (Macgillivray.) Length, 228; culmen, 35; wing, 137; tail, 56; tarsus, 33.

"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Differs from the winter plumage in being much more variegated, the whole of the back being spotted with white, the spots being arranged in pairs on the edges of the feathers, which are also tipped with a bar or twin spots of white; the whole of the head and neck streaked with white, and the brown streaks on the side of the face, fore neck, and chest very broad and distinct, the sides of the upper breast being brown, very much mottled with bars of white. Length, 236; culmen, 35; wing, 137; tail, 55; tarsus, 30.