COMMON REDSHANK TATTER. 337 



Changes of Plumage. — In spring a change of plumage 

 takes place, in consequence of which the birds present the 

 following appearances : — 



Male in Summer. — The bill and feet are coloured as in 

 winter, but with the red of a somewhat brighter tint. The 

 head and hind part of the neck are of a darker tint than in 

 winter, as are the back and wings ; the scapulars, wing- 

 coverts, and inner secondaries margined with decided 

 brownish-black spots or bars, alternating with white. The 

 sides of the head and neck are greyish-white, with dusky 

 streaks, as is the fore part of the neck; on the sides the 

 markings are angular, or in the form of bars ; the middle of 

 the breast and the abdomen pure white ; the other parts 

 nearly as in winter. The principal difference, then, in 

 summer is, that the lower parts are white or less shaded 

 with grey, and marked with decided dusky streaks, spots, 

 and angular bars. 



Female in Summer. — The female shows no remarkable 

 difference in colour. 



Habits. — In the northern parts of Scotland this species 

 is not very frequently met with in winter, unless in particu- 

 lar localities ; but in the southern, especially along the firths 

 and inlets, and on the coasts of England, it is not uncommon, 

 although seldom anywhere very abundant. From the middle 

 of autumn to the end of spring, it is to be found in suitable 

 places along the shores, seldom in flocks, indeed rarely in 

 greater numbers than two or three together. They may, 

 however, occasionally congregate in particularly favourable 

 situations. Thus, a writer in the Naturalist says they are 

 very numerous in Dublin Bay, where so many as two 

 hundred may sometimes be seen in a flock. But it is perhaps 

 not quite certain that the birds were of this species, as they 

 exhibited a kind of action which I have not observed in it. 

 These Irish Redshanks, it is said, " dart their bills into the 

 sand nearly its whole length, by jumping up, and thus giving 

 it a sort of impetus by the weight of their bodies pressing it 



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