It is a greenish-brown bird with white under parts. Its legs are not long for a wader; its bill is about an inch long. It goes about in ones or twos (never in flocks), picking up insects on the water’s edge. When disturbed it flies away, and then its wings, which are pointed, show a very narrow white band. By this you may recognise the species. It flies low, and as Eha remarks, with its wings bent like a bow. When it settles down it wags its apology for a tail in wagtail-like manner. (Illus. B. B., p. 168.)
[193]. Totanus glareola: The Wood Sandpiper, or Spotted Sandpiper. (F. 1461), (J. 891), (+II, but with a very short tail.)
The upper plumage of this is dark brown spotted with white. The abdomen is white, as is also the tail.
The habits of this species are very like those of the snipe, so that the sportsman out shooting constantly puts up the bird, but it can be distinguished from the snipe, because instead of emitting the sharp “psip” of the snipe on rising, it utters a shrill note. Moreover, it is a much smaller bird than even the Jack-snipe.
[194]. Totanus ochropus: The Green Sandpiper. (F. 1462), (J. 892), (+II, but with a short tail.)
This bird is very like the last species, except that it is larger and less conspicuously spotted, and has more white in the tail. It is distinguishable from the snipe, alongside of which it is often found, by its “shrill piping note,” which it utters on the wing, and its white tail, which is conspicuous as it flies away.
A winter visitor; commoner in N. India than in the south.
Among the sandpipers that visit India during the winter in large numbers are (1) Totanus glottis: The Greenshank. (F. 1466), (J. 894), (-IV) and (2) Totanus calidris: The Redshank. (F. 1464), (J. 897), (+III). The greenshank may be recognised by its large size and the redshank by the red legs, which are not so extravagantly long as those of the stilt (187).
[195]. Tringa minuta: The Little Stint. (F. 1471), (J. 884), (+I, but with a short tail.)
Upper parts dingy brown, with white forehead and under parts.