Scolopax cinerea Güldenstädt, Novi
Comm. Acad. Sci. Imp. Petrop. (1775), 19, 473, pl. 19.
Terekia cinerea Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 474;
Hand-List (1899), 1, 161; Oates, Cat. Birds' Eggs (1902), 2, 47;
McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 26.
Bohol (Everett); Cebu (McGregor); Masbate (Bourns &
Worcester); Negros (Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester); Palawan
(Whitehead). Northern Siberia, northeastern Europe; in winter
Africa and Indian Peninsula to Australia.
"Adult male in breeding plumage.--Differs from the winter plumage
in having black centers to feathers of upper surface; head streaked
with blackish brown; a rufescent tint pervades the upper surface;
lesser wing-coverts and scapulars almost entirely black, the latter
forming a double band down the back; wing-coverts, secondaries, lower
back, rump, and upper tail-coverts, mottled with dusky markings; below
white; lower throat and fore neck streaked with blackish. 'Bill black,
base of lower mandible yellowish green; feet olive-gray; iris dark
brown.' (Taczanowski.) Length, 215; culmen, 51; wing, 136; tail, 56;
tarsus, 29.
"The yellow base to the lower mandible appears to me to be a sign of
immaturity and winter plumage, as it seems to disappear entirely in
breeding birds.
"Adult female in breeding plumage.--Similar to the male, with less
of the bronzy tint above; black streaks on upper surface and dusky
streaks on throat less pronounced. Length, 241; culmen, 48; wing,
136; tail, 56; tarsus, 25.
"Young male of the year.--Similar to the adults, but with a much
shorter bill, its base conspicuously yellow; mantle streaked with
blackish; scapulars marked with black almost as much as in the adult
bird; upper tail-coverts and tail barred with dusky and pale rufous;
greater coverts black, forming a band across wing; head, neck, and
under parts as in the adult winter plumage, the throat not being
streaked with dusky. 'Bill blackish olive, yellowish olive at base
of both mandibles; feet, including web, bright orange-yellow; iris
blackish brown.' (Stejneger.)
"Adult in winter plumage.--General color above light ashy gray, with
obsolete whitish edges to scapulars and wing-coverts, especially the
greater series; lesser coverts distinctly black in the center; alula,
primary-coverts, and quills blackish, outer primaries with white
shafts, inner primaries ashy toward the ends, with a white fringe;
secondaries broadly tipped with white, and white along the inner web;
inner secondaries ashy gray like the back, with blackish shaft-lines;
lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts like the back, the latter
freckled and edged with ashy white; tail-feathers ashy gray, whitish
at base, mottled with ashy; head and neck ashy gray; forehead and
eyebrow white, becoming fulvescent above ear-coverts; lores dusky
ashy; sides of face whitish, streaked with ashy gray, the upper edge
of ear-coverts uniform ashy; cheeks, throat, and under surface pure
white; sides of neck and sides of upper breast ashy gray, the latter
with a distinct dusky patch; axillars and under wing-coverts white;
feathers along edge of wing ashy gray; quills grayish below. 'Bill
dark brown, yellowish at base of lower mandible; feet and toes yellow;
iris brown.' (Oates.)" (Sharpe.)
This curious sandpiper was met with in considerable numbers on the
tide-flats near Minglanilla, Cebu, in November, 1906. At or near
high water the species was found, in company with Heteractitis,
resting among the roots of mangrove trees and at such times it was
no uncommon occurrence to kill several specimens of each species at
one shot. As the rocky flats became exposed these birds scattered to
feed and became more difficult to approach. The bill of the female
is much longer than that of the male, but the plumage is similar
in the two sexes. In a male taken November 20, the bill was black,
except the yellow base, legs bright orange-chrome, and nails black.
Genus GLOTTIS Koch, 1816.
Bill slightly curved upward; culmen decidedly shorter than tarsus;
the latter about twice the middle toe without claw; rump white.