96 PLUVIALIS AUHEA. 



slightly tipped and margined with greyish- white, and the 

 shafts of the primaries white toward the end. The sides of 

 the head, the neck all round, breast and sides of the body 

 are light grey, spotted and streaked with brownish-grey ; the 

 throat, abdomen, and axillar feathers white. 



Length to end of tail lOf inches ; extent of wings 22^ ; 

 wing from flexure 7^; tail 3j 2 2 ; bill along the ridge 1, along 

 the edge of lower mandible lj 2 2 ; tarsus lj 8 2 ; inner toe j", 

 its claw , 4 2 ; middle toe 1 j 2 2 , its claw E 6 2 ; outer toe } | , its 

 claw j 4 2 . 



Female. — The female is precisely similar to the male, 

 and is very little inferior in size. 



Length to end of tail 10^ inches ; extent of wings 22 ; 

 wing from flexure 7 ^ ; tail S j 2 ; bill along the ridge } ' ; 

 tarsus lj 7 2 ; middle toe l,^, its claw 



5 

 1 2* 



Variations. — The deviations from the ordinary colouring 

 observable in the winter plumage are generally not very 

 remarkable. Individuals, however, sometimes occur that 

 have the brown and black tints pale, and the yellow nearly 

 white. I have seen one, an adult female, having no yellow 

 spots, all the markings being greyish-white. The late Mr. 

 Carfrae, preserver of animals in Edinburgh, had a very 

 beautiful cream-coloured specimen, faintly spotted with pale 

 yellow. Individuals variously patched with white are also 

 sometimes, though rarely, met with. 



Change of Plumage. — The regular annual moult takes 

 place in September and October, and is generally completed 

 by the beginning of November. The partial moult com- 

 mences by the middle of February, and is completed by the 

 middle of May. In the outer Hebrides, where, in my youth, 

 I used to shoot a good deal on the moors, I observed that 

 the males had their black livery complete by Whitsunday, 

 — old style. 



Male in Summer. — The upper part of the head, the fore 

 part of the back, and the scapulars, are beautifully variegated 



