BIRDS MOULTING IN THEIR WINTER QUARTERS 9 



primaries, secondaries, tertiaries, and tail fresh. A bird from 

 Malacca, without date, was also heavily in moult. A female 

 from Uganda, taken on 'th January 1909, proved to be a 

 very interesting bird ; it was heavily in moult from the top 

 of the head to the upper tail-coverts and all down the breast 

 and flanks ; the tail feathers, primaries, and secondaries 

 looked fresh, the tertiaries and scapulars were worn, and 

 fresh feathers were coming in among them. A male Wood 

 Sandpiper from Damietta, Egypt, nth February 1899, was 

 in beautiful fresh plumage, the only sign of moult being one 

 or two fresh tertiaries, which were appearing in both wings. 

 Of three winter specimens ®f the Green Sandpiper {Tringa 

 ochropus) the only one to show moult was a bird from 

 Nankin, December 1901, which had feathers coming in on 

 the back of the head and back. The only Greenshank 

 {Tringa nebularid) examined, a female from Tenasserim, 

 20th December 1876, had a good many fresh feathers 

 coming in on the head, back, and breast ; the wings and 

 tail seerried to be fresh, with the exception of the two centre 

 tail feathers which were worn, as were the tail-coverts; a 

 new feather was coming in to replace the only old tertiary left, 

 while new scapulars were appearing among the old. A Marsh 

 Sandpiper {Tringa stagnatilis), a male from Uganda, 24th 

 November 1909, had a few feathers on the breast and one 

 tertiary still partly in quill. The chief points of interest in 

 connection with these notes on Wader moult seem to us to 

 be the occurrence of moult during every month of the winter, 

 and the fact that both old and young birds were found to be 

 moulting after arrival at their winter quarters. It would 

 appear to be very difficult in the case of these birds to fix 

 any definite period at which the moult ma\- be said to be 

 complete. 



Of two Lesser Black-backed Gulls {Lams fiiscus fiiscus), 

 both assuming summer plumage, neither quite mature, one, 

 a male, taken in Uganda in 1911, was in moult on the back 

 of the head, mantle, and breast ; the two centre tail feathers, 

 some tertiaries and scapulars, were still in quill. The other, 

 also from Uganda (no date), had a good many new feathers 

 coming in from the back of the neck down to the upper tail- 

 49 B 



